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It wasn't supposed to end up like this. Rei was sure there were at least twenty-five better alternatives to this situation, but somehow, here he was.

He had vehemently protested against helping Nagisa from the beginning, even bringing up the point that they had twenty other classmates Nagisa could get tutoring from, but the other boy had adamantly rejected his suggestion. Instead, he only said, "If it's not Rei-chan, then it's no good!" And as flattered as Rei was with that proclamation, he wasn't exactly enthused to the point of actually wanting to help the blond.

But the next thing he knew, he was being pulled off three stops too early from the train.

He wasn't exactly sure how it happened, since he was positive he's at least 10 centimeters taller and another 10 kilograms heavier than Nagisa, but the shorter boy had been able to drag him all the way from the station to his home. Rei vaguely remembered resisting and trying to yank away, but Nagisa's tiny stature, seemingly thin arms, and small hands held a surprising amount of strength.

Though he was still a daze, he recalled having given up somewhere between the fifth vending machine and third light pole he clung onto in an attempt to get away. His neck and face flushed slightly as he realized how ridiculous they must have looked, two high school boys playing tug-of-war in broad daylight.

Rei would have liked to think that it didn't matter anymore, but it did, especially since the person who got him into this situation wasn't paying attention at all.

"Nagisa-kun." He really couldn't hold it in anymore. He had patiently opened up their textbooks to the right page and taken out his notes for review, but if Nagisa wasn't going to even look at them, then there was no point. "Why aren't you studying if you dragged me all the way here to help you? At least pretend to be!"

After he ushered Rei into the house and cut off his "Sorry for the intrusion," with his own "Don't worry, Rei-chan! Mom and Dad won't be home until seven, and my sisters won't be back until eight, so it's just us! You're not intruding at all!" Nagisa had led them to the living room, where a small, low table was. A few cushions were already laid out, so Nagisa slid over to one, threw his backpack down, shucked off his vest, and sprawled on the floor unceremoniously. He hadn't really moved since then, and that was fifteen minutes ago.

From his position on the floor, Nagisa gave a garbled moan of displeasure. "But studying's so boring!" he complained. To emphasize his mood, he started to flop his extended arms on the tatami mats a few times. Rei thought he looked like a fish that washed ashore.

"Then I'm going home. Excuse me." He began to close his books and collect them, but Nagisa shot up and clutched onto his shirt sleeve so fast he thought it would be torn off.

"No!" Nagisa exclaimed, his eyebrows knit in flat refusal and face full of sadness. "Rei-chan, don't leave me already!"

"Then study!"

Immediately, his grip loosened and Nagisa slumped over the table. He made another long, disjointed noise of unhappiness.

Rei looked helplessly at the back of the boy's downturned head and sighed.

Slowly, Nagisa slid back over the edge of the table like a jellyfish and melted on the floor. He was on his back again, his arms flung as far away from him as possible. Nagisa closed his eyes and pouted, rolling his head left and right against the mats in discontentment. He let out another grumbling noise, like a child who didn't get exactly what he wanted.

Rei heaved another heavy breath.

Earlier in the day, Nagisa had asked (though it was more like he strongly insisted) that he come over to his house and help him study for the mathematics test they had on Thursday because he didn't understand the chapter. It didn't matter to Nagisa how many times Rei said that he would rather not because he studied better alone. It only mattered that Rei was Rei, and he was the only one Nagisa wanted for help.

It wasn't as if he was absolutely against the idea of helping Nagisa. He was actually rather flattered that the blond didn't want anyone else but him—much like how he never gave up trying to recruit Rei into the swim team, even though he could have latched onto any other poor, unsuspecting soul. After all, in a school as big as Iwatobi, Rei was positive there had to be at least one other individual who was male and had a girly name.

But the thing was, being around him always made Rei a little more nervous than he was comfortable with. After all, the blond had a tendency to trick Rei into doing whatever he wanted, if his currently sitting in the Hazuki household wasn't evidence enough.

Rei didn't know how Nagisa was able to do that to him, but there were a lot of things about the other boy that he didn't really understand.

Until he had met Nagisa, Rei had always been the kind of person who would keep to himself from others, as not to impair his judgment from the influence of personal and involved emotions. Everything had to have a logical and calculable answer, if it didn't, then it had to be rejected and reanalyzed.

But ever since he was hounded into the Iwatobi Swim Club, he found it harder and harder to stick with the method of execution he had used for so many years in his life. Now, everything had to be based of gut instinct and intuition. There were no formulas or calculations. And even if there were, there was never any time to carry out the theories. Unlike in track, where he would have a few seconds to adjust angles and velocity, swimming was half a second between "Ready, on your mark" and a loud buzz.

In the cold thrill of the water, where even the most enthusiastic cheering and yelling of the audience became nothing but garbled water noises hitting up his ears, there was no chance to figure out how water buoyancy and drag was affecting his acceleration. It was all he could do to remember to breathe, pull, and kick properly in order not to be disqualified. Even against the strain of quickly tiring muscles and the ever present threat of accidentally swallowing water that the neighboring lanes kick into his face when he surfaced, he had to remember to do it right. And he had to do it right from instinct and muscle memory.

Which was basically how he felt every time he found himself with Nagisa.

Every time he interacted with him, it was like learning how to swim all over again. The rapid-fire questions and statements that were thrown at him left him no room for actual thinking, only quick retaliation and reply. Each time he managed to answer, he had pulled up out of the water and sucked in a breath of air. The next second, though, Nagisa was splashing water into his mouth as gravity pulled him below the turbulent surface of the pool again.

That wasn't to say that it was all hard work and exhaustion though. Just like in practice when Gou told him that he improved his time or Makoto smiled at him and commented on how much better his form was becoming, Rei felt a surge of pride and happiness every time he managed to maintain a coherent conversation with Nagisa that didn't end up with him getting cajoled into something weird. He felt like he was getting better at it too. Now, he knew more or less what to expect from the other boy whenever they talked, though Nagisa liked throwing random curveballs at him on occasion.

But despite how much energy Nagisa drained from him, Rei had to admit that it was fun. It was challenging to be with the blond so much, but it was different and new. It was also frightening and outside the bounds of safe, calculable math, but he didn't entirely dislike it.

Learning to trust himself without the aid of mental protractors, rulers, and graphs was refreshing. Learning to depend on others and leaning on them for support was gratifying. And not being alone all the time made him so very, very happy.

And every time he heard Nagisa call out his name cheerfully, something in his chest warmed pleasantly. He wasn't used to having someone hanging off his shoulders all the time, but now, Nagisa's weight was comfortable and familiar. The blond grew on him startlingly fast.

It was still weird for him to think that all of this happened because Nagisa was so hell-bent on making him join the swim club. Whether his reasons were completely valid or not, Rei was secretly grateful for the blond's persistence and stubbornness.

There was something to be admired about how headstrong Nagisa could be. His cheerful demeanor and upbeat nature was occasionally too much, especially when the end of the day was nearing and Rei's energy levels have dropped significantly, but it certainly wasn't a bad thing. In a way, that brightness of Nagisa's was what made him such a beautiful person.

True as it was that Rei had a strong proclivity for things that he considered "beautiful," he wasn't so shallow and narrow-minded to only look at things from the outside and judge them by physical appearance alone. He also appreciated inner beauty. No matter how aesthetically pleasing a person was, Rei would still find them ugly if their personality was rotten.

For Nagisa, however, that wasn't the case. Rei found him beautiful both on the outside and inside.

And he was scared when he first realized that—that Nagisa was beautiful.

He thought a lot of things were beautiful. The way the trees sounded when wind gusted through them, the tidiness and logicalness of mathematics, the physics of pole-vaulting. And lately, how Haruka looked when swimming. But never had he thought someone was beautiful the way Nagisa was.

It was different. Subtle, but different.

It wasn't just awe like he had for Haruka. It was more of an all-encompassing feeling of… warmth.

The way he laughed, the way he swam, the way he quirked the corners of his mouth up all the time. The way his eyes gained a new light when he talked about something he was enthusiastic about, whether it was swimming, onsen, or ghost stories.

Even now, the way that the afternoon light diffused into the room and spilled over the gentle curves of Nagisa's form made him feel warm. His hair seemed more golden than yellow. The boy had long since stopped scrunching up his face in a pout and relaxed it to the point where he looked like he was sleeping.

It had been a long time since he liked someone like this. At least, Rei thought he liked Nagisa. The last time he recalled feeling like this was maybe back in primary school. But he was eleven then, too young to really know. And now he was fifteen, and that must mean that he knew better now.

With a start, he realized that he had spent way too much time staring and getting lost in his thoughts.

Right now, Rei's main priority was getting Nagisa to focus on their task at hand, so he wouldn't fail the test. The unenthusiastic state Nagisa was in was difficult to work with, but he knew he had to do something to get Nagisa focused. He just wasn't sure what.

In the end, he decided that a pep talk was in order. He didn't think he would be as good as Gou or Makoto, but he was going to try his best anyway.

"Studying isn't as bad as you think it is. For me, it always feels so rewarding when I finally understand a concept or a formula and can apply it correctly. It's always the best after struggling for a while and suddenly coming to the correct conclusion," Rei began. He tried to keep his voice upbeat and less lecture-like, since that tended to make Nagisa zone out.

At the sound of his voice, Nagisa's eyes cracked open, and he rolled over to his side. With the sun against his back, shadows shrouded his face and the front of his body as he rested on his left shoulder and curled his hands next to his face.

"Of course, this is especially applicable to mathematics, since the rules are so well-established and logical, but it is not entirely impossible to incorporate such thinking onto topics such as literature or—"

The entire time, Nagisa watched Rei as he enthusiastically raved on. He stayed quiet, not really listening but just carefully examining the other boy as he spoke. His eyes trailed from the wispy edges of Rei's bangs, to his mouth as it carefully enunciated each of his words, to his glasses. He was especially distracted by the frames, because Rei kept tilting his head slightly and the sun was reflecting off it every time.

It was when Rei began to delve into the deep end of philosophy that he silently drew himself up from the ground. Rei was so preoccupied and fired up with the conversation with himself that he didn't even notice Nagisa until he turned his head to the right and found the boy three centimeters from his face.

He jolted back and almost banged his knee against the underside of the low table. "Nagisa-kun! What are you doi—"

Without saying anything, Nagisa gingerly told hold of the temple of Rei's glasses and pushed them up to his forehead. Without the help of the corrective lenses, everything in Rei's line of sight blurred. The only thing he could see clearly was Nagisa's wide eyes. They were so close that he could feel the blond's soft, slightly suspended breaths coming from his parted mouth.

His heart had already been beating fast, on account of how startled he was when Nagisa snuck up to him, but now it was beating fast for another reason. He was so shocked at the situation that he couldn't speak or move.

Nagisa's bright eyes were inquisitive and attentive. They shifted ever-so-slightly as they examined Rei's eyes. Rei felt as if his soul was being explored by Nagisa. Now, he couldn't breathe.

And then the moment was over.

Nagisa gave out a thoughtful hum and plopped Rei's glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. He settled down and crossed his arms on the table before resting his cheek against his upper arm.

Rei swallowed, despite his mouth having dried out long ago. Gingerly, he pressed his fingertips to his chest, where his heart was beating fast. For a second he thought—

But then he shook his head a little and reminded himself not to get so carried away. Nagisa was always so touchy-feely with people, and his intrusions on personal space were universal to all.

Since his cheek was pushed up against his arm, his voice sounded even poutier than usual, but Nagisa didn't seem to care. "Aah, it's just as I thought! Rei-chan's eyes really are beautiful! It's not fair at all…" He rolled his forehead against the crease of his elbow and rested there with his face down.

"That's not true!" Rei's voice had come out without his volition. Somehow, the words were spilling out faster than he could hold them back. "Nagisa-kun's eyes are also very pretty." He started, not sure where that came from and let out a small, embarrassed, "Ah."

Nagisa tilted his head until his face was visible and he was resting on his upper arm again. "Really? You think my eyes are pretty?"

"I—uh…." Rei looked away and readjusted his glasses nervously. The words weren't coming out anymore, so he settled for making a strange humming noise that was stuck between affirmation and refutation. He blamed himself for thinking so much beforehand. That was the reason why he had said something stupid like that. He bit the inside of his lip.

An airy giggle reached his ears, and Rei flushed redder. Maybe there was some way he could salvage the situation. "I-If it's aesthetics we're talking about, then Nagisa-kun's eyes are what many people would consider 'beautiful,' especially in Japanese standards, where large eyes and long eyelashes are preferred over other types. Additionally, the possession of double-eyelids helps with the conception of—" Here, Rei gasped for air, since his nervousness had made him incapable of taking proper breaths between statements.

Nagisa laughed again. "Rei-chan, you're always so funny when you're embarrassed!"

He tried his best to sound confident but he still stammered over his words. "I'm not embarrassed! I'm merely explaining to you what the perception of modern-day beauty is, as set by the popular mass."

It wasn't hard to see through Rei's false bravado, since his face, ears, and neck were completely red, but all Nagisa do was smile softly at him. He spoke calmly but with a hint of playfulness. "Thank you for saying that my eyes are pretty. It makes me really happy to hear that from Rei-chan." Nagisa looked brightly at him, his shoulders shrugging up a little to convey his joy.

Rei's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately hated himself for thinking too much again. Again, he reminded himself that this was perfectly normal Nagisa behavior, and he meant nothing by it. "Well, that's what friends do for each other. Encourage each other when they are unsure of themselves!"

A wistful hum came from Nagisa. Prompted by the thoughtful noise, and Rei looked over to him. The gentle smile hadn't faded from his face the entire time, and Rei was ready to tear a hole in the ground and hide.

Probably because of all the thinking he was doing earlier, he had suddenly become very jittery and self-conscious. He didn't usually get as bad as he was now around Nagisa. Then again, they were never really alone either. They were always with the rest of the swim club or at school with other people. He had to calm down. After a few deep breaths, he managed to settle his feelings a little.

There was nothing wrong with liking Nagisa, Rei knew, but it had only been a few months since they met, and there was no way Nagisa liked him back. If he was to really think about it, they technically hardly really knew each other. True as it was that they had practice nearly every day and were hanging out even on the weekends, it was too soon.

He wiped his sweaty palms on his knees and willed his heartbeat to slow down.

"Hey, Rei-chan…"

He was pulled out from his tumultuous thoughts when Nagisa beckoned him.

"I like you."

Rei spluttered, feeling as if the sparse ground and surety he regained had collapsed beneath him. That was certainly unexpected, especially right after he was trying to convince himself otherwise.

A million thoughts ran through his head, but the one he clung onto the hardest was, "I must be misinterpreting his words. After all, Nagisa-kun always says such misleading things." In order to dispel any possible misconceptions and false hopes, he said in a voice that was a little too loud, "O-Of course! You also like Haruka-senpai and Makoto-senpai as well."

"No."

"No?" Rei repeated Nagisa's succinct response, confused. "You don't like Haruka-senpai or Makoto-senpai?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I do like Haru-chan and Mako-chan, but I don't think you get what I mean." From his lowered position on the surface of the table, Nagisa looked infinitely smaller and more vulnerable than he should have, and his words cracked a little. "Rei-chan," he said his name, "I like like you."

Rei's mouth hung open at the statement, and he wasn't sure what to do with himself. His heart was beating so fast, he could hear it pounding in his ears. He felt dizzy and disorientated and wondered if this was a dream.

"I've been always thinking, 'Ah, Rei-chan really makes me happy!'" Nagisa continued while picking at his short sleeve. He seemed to be calm, but his cheeks were uncharacteristically pink, and he was avoiding eye contact. "It's different from the happy that Haru-chan, Mako-chan, and Gou-chan make me feel though.

"Somehow… it's the kind of happy that makes me smile and feel really warm at night before I fall asleep. And being around you is so fun. You're always worrying and doing your best, but that's what makes Rei-chan Rei-chan, so I don't mind at all.

"And so I thought, 'I have to tell him,' but," he stopped playing with the hem of his sleeve and hid his face so his voice came to Rei muffled, "it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I didn't know when to say it, but I know Rei-chan is shy, so doing it in public would have been bad."

Rei instinctively defended himself by saying, "I'm not shy!" but when Nagisa peeked at him knowingly from his crossed arms, he closed his mouth and looked down at his lap. Even though he came off as brash and forceful, Nagisa was surprisingly thoughtful. Rei was taken aback from the amount of consideration he was showing at the moment.

When the shyly mischievous glance stayed fixed on him, Rei began to squirm.

"I, um…." He twisted his fingers around in his lap, not sure what to do with himself.

In a small and quiet voice, Nagisa asked him, "Do you… like me?"

Very badly, he wanted to just nod and not say anything. But he couldn't have done that. It would have been rude not to verbally reply, especially since Nagisa had gathered up the courage to tell him. If he didn't actually say anything back, it would have been like cheating. It took bravery to say "I like you," but it took just as much bravery to say, "I like you too." No matter how much Rei wanted to run away, he wasn't going to.

"I…." His eyes couldn't meet Nagisa's. It was already so hard to form words, since his throat kept drying up. "Yes," he whispered coarsely, "I like you too."

The next thing Nagisa did was so startling and unexpected—though he should have known better, because it was Nagisa he was dealing with—that he jumped and nearly bit his tongue.

With a loud cheer, Nagisa bolted upright from the table and threw his arms high into the air. "Yay!" he said, his face bright and pink. "Ah! I'm so glad!" He pressed his palms against his hot cheeks and laughed gleefully.

"I was scared, you know. Just a little—I thought maybe Rei-chan hated me, because you're always like," his voice and face blanked to imitate the bespectacled boy, "'Nagisa-kun, stop that!' and 'Nagisa-kun, don't squeeze so tightly, I can't breathe!'"

"W-Well, the second one was because I really couldn't…." But Rei stopped halfway through and gave a defeated but pleased smile back at him. "I don't hate you. I never did."

The rash, childlike enthusiasm became subdued and quiet in Nagisa as he lowered his eyes and used his fingers to cover his uncontrollably widening smile.

It really felt like a dream now. Rei wondered if it really was only a few minutes ago that he was battling his inner demons and trying not to scream in unintelligible frustration. Somehow, the situation had changed so quickly. He was glad for it, because he didn't know how he was going to deal with himself after today. He wouldn't have had the courage to confess to Nagisa—at least, not this soon. Something as spontaneous as this was next to impossible for him, who was still so accustomed to planning and order.

He was glad for their differences in personality though. Nagisa's split-second whimsies were dangerous sometimes but always got them somewhere, and his own reserved calculations ensured that they wouldn't get killed. It was good. They balanced each other out.

"Rei-chan, can we kiss?"

He nearly choked on his saliva.

At least, they balanced each other out when Nagisa wasn't saying things like that out of the blue.

"Thinking about you before I fall asleep makes me warm and happy, but sometimes it makes me hmmgh…." The rest of Nagisa's sentence became a muddled mix of nasal humming and back-of-the-throat noises. He put his head down on the table, hands still covering his face.

Rei's cheeks grew hotter as he stared down at Nagisa's red ears and neck.

Of course, things like this were normal too. They were teenage boys, after all. It was just that Nagisa was much more open about admitting to them, apparently. It wasn't as if Rei didn't have such thoughts and urges. He just wouldn't be so fast to confessing them to Nagisa.

"If… If you want to, I'm not completely… opposed to the idea," he finally said.

Nagisa peeked at him again. "Really?"

This time, he really couldn't bring himself to speak and merely nodded. He almost expected the blond to bolt up again and start cheering, but all he did was slowly sit up and shuffle his legs from under the table. Nagisa scooted around the corner and settled in front of Rei, who had likewise very nervously and carefully turned toward him.

Rei jumped a bit when Nagisa put his hands on his shoulder gingerly. He shifted his weight onto his knees as he propped himself up. He was a little taller than Rei sitting down now.

"Should we take off your glasses?"

"If you do, I won't be able to see."

"But wouldn't they get in the way?"

"I don't know."

"Um, I don't know either."

They sat there for a few seconds in silence, but in the end, Nagisa plucked off the red frames and set them very carefully on the table. His hands went back onto Rei's shoulders.

"… Are you ready?"

His heart definitely wasn't, it was beating so fast. But it was now or never.

"Yes."

"Okay." Nagisa took in a deep breath to steel himself.

His expression was gentle and open as he got closer to Rei. At this closeness Rei could see the thick flush of eyelashes which framed Nagisa's eyes even without his glasses. They really were stunning.

Rei still couldn't really believe this was happening. Being friends with Nagisa was one thing, but having his feelings reciprocated like this was…. He didn't know how to put it in words or thoughts anymore. All he was aware of was the boy in front of him.

He was so focused on Nagisa's eyes that he barely caught the quick flicker of a smile on his lips before the blond pressed his forehead against his shoulder and burst into laughter.

"Nagisa-kun!" he exclaimed admonishingly. He didn't think he feel any more embarrassed, but the giggling mess clinging to him at the moment was challenging that belief.

"I-I'm sorry!" he gasped, fingers digging into his shirt. "It was too funny! Rei-chan's face so close-up was too funny! I couldn't help…"

Rei grew mildly indignant at having his face being called "funny," but he sort of understood. The situation was so unusual and nerve-wracking that it would have been natural for something like this to happen. He wasn't sure if it helped his nerves any more or less though.

"Y-You had your face up to mine just a while ago!"

Between his giggles, Nagisa gasped out, "But that was different!"

Rei sighed over the top of the blond's head and rubbed his nose and cheeks embarrassedly. This was definitely not the start to a beautiful first kiss.

He gave Nagisa a few seconds to recollect himself and straighten up. His cheeks were glowing from how much he was laughing, and Rei found it incredibly endearing.

"Okay," the blond said with newfound conviction. "I'm ready now."

Rei's eyebrows furrowed a bit in worry. Maybe Nagisa looked a little too ready. But his fears soon slipped away as the blond's face turned soft again. His lips were slightly parted, and he brought one hand to press against his face. His thumb stroked the side of his cheek, and then, they were close again.

Instinctively, he shut his eyes. There was a small nudge against his nose, and then everything was still.

For a split second, neither of them breathed or moved, just froze there in fear and anticipation.

Nagisa drew in a quick breath and pressed forward.

There was pressure. Soft and barely there.

Rei's neck and body froze up. He didn't know what to do anymore. Nagisa's hand was still on his face, but now it was getting a little sweaty and he thought he felt it tremble. At least he wasn't the only one who was nervous.

They stayed that way for a while until Nagisa drew back. His eyes were wide and expectant.

"Well?" His voice was as breathless.

A pang of guilt laced through Rei as he looked at Nagisa. He looked so genuinely happy and eager from the kiss that he felt like a total jerk for not having felt… much. His heart still pounded from the excitement of it all, but that was about it.

"It wasn't bad," he replied vaguely. He licked his lips. His cheeks were burning.

Immediately, Nagisa pouted. "But it wasn't very good either, was it?"

"Erm…."

The blond fell back and crossed his arms with a huff. "I wonder if we're doing something wrong."

Since Nagisa had backed away, Rei couldn't see him as clearly anymore. He scratched the side of his face but said nothing.

"Oh!" Suddenly, Nagisa straightened out his back and beamed at Rei. "I know! Don't they usually use their tongue in the movies and stuff?"

"T-Tongue?" Maybe they were taking this a little too fast.

"Mmn!" To demonstrate exactly what he meant, Nagisa stuck out his tongue and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

Rei squinted at him. "You don't mean to actually have us do it that way, do you?"

"You dunt wanth to twy ith?" he said without retracting his tongue back into his mouth.

He wrinkled his nose. "Not like that, no."

Nagisa's teeth flashed at him as he started to laugh and smile. "Silly, of course we're not going to do it that way! That'd be super gross."

"Of course not," he sniffed, slightly offended. He didn't actually think that Nagisa would be as innocent and ignorant to the steps of courtship, but neither would he have been too surprised if he was.

"But, well?" Nagisa raised his eyebrows in question.

"I'm not wholly against your proposition," he replied evasively once more.

"Then…" the blond said, moving closer, "let's try it." His hands came up to tenderly cup Rei's face.

He looked so ethereal, so charming that Rei couldn't help the quiet, "Nagisa-kun," that slipped out with his breath.

Their lips were pressed together again, this time with more pressure and confidence. Rei's muscles were slightly less tense now too, but he was not yet sure what to do with himself.

When the seconds dragged on, Rei began to panic a little. When Nagisa said they'd try with some tongue, did he mean for Rei to initiate it or would he initiate it himself? Rather, how was he supposed to even do something like that?

Before he could get too caught up in his thoughts, however, a small and soft sensation hesitantly brushed up against his lower lip, and he let out a little noise from the back of his throat. Nagisa licked him again with more persistence and prompted Rei to open his mouth as well.

Their tongues touched, and Rei grunted.

It was a weird feeling, but it wasn't completely uncomfortable. He slid his tongue over Nagisa's and shuddered at how warm it was inside his mouth. The entire time, the blond was letting out soft, breathy "Ah" noises, encouraging Rei to make tiny sounds of his own.

After a bit, Nagisa pulled away until only the tips of their noses were touching. Rei opened his eyes and saw the blond with his chin slightly tucked in, making Nagisa with his clouded, half-lidded eyes and flushed cheeks look extremely vulnerable and demure. The second his mouth curved up in a devious smile, the illusion was broken. A thrill went through Rei, and Nagisa slanted his face the other way to kiss him.

Rei's hand curled up naturally on the back of the blond's head. He began to massage his scalp with his fingertips, but once the kiss deepened and Nagisa was insistently pressing his tongue against the underside of Rei's, he took hold of locks and gently yanked until the other boy tilted his head back. Their mouths came apart just enough for the blond to inhale a short, shuddery breath before Rei wetly sucked it out of him again. His hands wandered from Rei's face to his neck, where they laced between his short, straight hair.

They still didn't know exactly what to do, but neither of them minded each other's inexperience.

When his other hand slipped down to Nagisa's waist, the other boy let out a high whine which sounded like "Rei," with no suffix. Rei swallowed and shuddered when Nagisa ran a hand up from the nape of his neck to the back of his head. The blond ruffled up his hair in all the wrong directions before fisting it tightly.

Their teeth clacked together once in a while, but Nagisa would only sigh quietly, nudge Rei with his nose, and brush his eyelashes against his tenderly each time. Then he grew a little more mischievous and began to nip at Rei.

The first time it happened, Rei started and pulled away, but Nagisa only giggled and pecked him cheerfully, thereby luring him back. The second time he did it, Rei grunted in displeasure and stiffened his lips. The third time Nagisa pulled it on him, the taller boy retaliated strongly. He held Nagisa's lower lip between his teeth firmly and swiped his tongue aggressively over it.

He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he expected from that, but Nagisa gasping sharply and arching his body against him certainly wasn't it.

Rei backed away immediately, thinking that he had somehow ended up hurting him. Something warm stuck to his chin when he did, and he realized that some saliva had pulled between their mouths. He wiped it off.

Judging from how dazed and satisfied Nagisa looked, Rei was able to quickly deduce that the strong reaction he had gotten out of him was not one of pain. His mussed up appearance and the breathless "Rei-chan…" that passed his red lips gave him absolute conviction that Nagisa was more than okay.

Once he regained control of his breathing, the first thing Nagisa asked was, "How was that?"

Wryly, Rei answered with, "Better."

Nagisa punched him playfully on the shoulder and pouted, going, "C'mon!"

Rei leaned forward boldly a pressed a small kiss on Nagisa's lips. It was supposed to be a quick one, but Nagisa immediately trapped him in a hug and began to laugh sweetly against his ear.

"Hey, Rei-chan," he said, his voice lower and more serious than it usually was, "are you excited as I am right now?"

He swallowed hard at the question. Rei had not anticipated Nagisa asking such a thing with that kind of voice. Again, he didn't expect him to be absolutely ignorant about these types of things, but Nagisa's gutsiness in bringing up such embarrassing matters was rather impressive. And a little erotic.

But if the heat pounding deep in his chest and between his legs anything to go by, Rei found this side of Nagisa to be more than just a little erotic.

"Nagisa-kun…." He was feeling a little overwhelmed and winded.

Maybe they really were moving a little too fast now and they should slow down before anything regretful happened, but they're young and impatient, and Nagisa nudged his knees against Rei's shins suggestively. He should stop and recalculate things, but his hands were already feeling Nagisa's muscled back through the thin, starchy fabric of his uniform shirt. He absently thought that this was too much, and then his fingers were slipping up the small sliver between Nagisa's shirt and pants to feel his slightly damp skin against his palm.

Nagisa was breathing heavily on his neck and clutching his shoulders hard.

Things were going to get messy, and Rei knew this. Before he lost all semblance of restraint, he stopped. He removed his hand from under Nagisa's shirt and pushed away enough not to feel his heat seep through his clothing, though his fingertips remained lightly on his hips.

"We should," he gasped, "stop."

Nagisa's pale eyes looked back at him somewhat blearily, and he had to blink a few times to regain clarity.

"Are we going too fast?"

"Yes—" Rei gulped in air and tried to straighten his thoughts properly. "Yes. Probably—I think." His level of certainty decreased with each forthcoming answer, but at least he could think again.

There was a soft rustling noise as Nagisa shifted on his knees a little uncomfortably. His gaze shifted to the side and down, embarrassment and arousal tingeing his cheeks.

"I don't want this to be it," Rei said after taking a steadying breath. "I—I like you, Nagisa-kun. I like you a lot, so..."

The blond bit his lower lip and returned his focus on Rei.

"I like Rei-chan a lot, a lot too, so if you don't want to do this," he smiled gently, "we don't have to."

"No, that's…" he, too, glanced away quickly, "that's not what I meant." He sucked in a deep breath and tried to ignore the burning in his cheeks. "I like you a lot, so I don't want this just to be a purely physical relationship."

Nagisa blinked at him. Then he said, "Is that what Rei-chan is planning on?"

"No! Of course not!" he replied immediately, ashamed and indignant that Nagisa would even think that of him.

"Do you think I'll do something like that to you?"

His resentment faltered. Nagisa was looking at him with such an earnest face. "No…."

"If Rei-chan doesn't plan to make this a 'purely physical relationship,' and I don't plan on doing that either, then isn't it okay?"

Uncertainly, he repeated the question. "Is it?"

Slowly, Nagisa placed both hands on top of Rei's and drew it away from his hip. He brought it up to his face and nuzzled his cheek into it. A small smile drifted to his lips. "I think it is."

"Nagisa-kun…" he breathed as the blond fondly pressed a kiss into his palm. His heartbeat sped up, and he swallowed. He used the hand that Nagisa put upon his own face to draw them closer. The next time they kissed, the blond smiled against his lips, and he couldn't help but to do the same.

Rei unfolded his legs from their crossed position, and Nagisa shifted so that he can untuck his as well. He took Rei's shirt collar with both hands and slowly pulled forward while leaning back. The taller boy followed, legs clumsily shuffling to the sides of Nagisa's thighs. Before the blond completely reclined on the floor, however, Rei hastily grabbed a cushion from the floor and pushed it beneath his head so it wouldn't be as uncomfortable.

He wanted to be sure, so again he asked Nagisa, "Is this okay?"

In response, Nagisa giggled and wrapped his arms around his neck. Rei was forced to bend his elbows and lean his weight on the length of his arms. "More than okay, Rei-chan," he said with a smile.

Nagisa was warm. In so many ways, he's warm, and Rei could barely stand it all.

His slightly smaller hands trailed up and down his upper arms, went beneath Rei's short sleeves, and carefully traced over his muscles. It tickled a bit, but he was too distracted by how Nagisa kept sucking his tongue into his mouth and panting softly.

They shifted a bit on the floor, and Rei backed up to look at Nagisa. His curly hair was splayed across the pillow, half-fallen over his eyes and half-stuck to his forehead, so Rei used a hand to brush them out of the way. Nagisa tilted his head toward the pillow, giving him a sly, gleeful look. His lips were wet and curved up in the smallest of smiles, and the glean in his eyes was mischievous.

Rei had a sudden urge that he resisted for only a second before acting upon it. His lips quivered slightly on Nagisa's exposed neck, but he pressed a little harder and kissed it. He did this once or twice more, each time going a little higher until he reached the soft spot behind the blond's jaw and ear. There, he exhaled hotly and laved his tongue over. With his open mouth, he sucked gently on Nagisa before letting go. The blond's hair fell back in place and hid the mark.

Nagisa shuddered and let out a short huff of air that turned into a broken whine. Rei breathed in and kissed the spot again, smelling the sweetness of Nagisa's probably-strawberry shampoo, the tang of his sweat, and the lingering scent of chlorine which clung affectionately to their skin at all times. Fingers tangled into his hair again, and Nagisa bared more of his neck for him.

He moved lower, trailing down the length of the blond's neck and tugging off the red tie which Nagisa had loosened up long before any of this happened. His fingers didn't really heed his command, but they managed to unbutton part of Nagisa's shirt in the end. With some wiggling on Nagisa's part and pulling on Rei's, they were able to expose one of the blond's shoulders messily.

Rei kept breathing in his scent, head feeling light and vision constricted to the fifteen centimeters immediately in front of him. His lips found their way to the dip where Nagisa's shoulder met his chest, and molded against the smooth, warm skin. Blunt fingernails dug into his scalp, clawing at him gently the entire time.

The blond took in short, abbreviated breaths that he let out in open-mouthed pants and occasional hums. He giggled a bit when Rei too-gently brushed his lips over his collarbones but turned quiet again when he applied more pressure. Since Nagisa was so fond of biting him, he tried scraping his teeth against it and licking over it.

Then Nagisa started squirming underneath him, and Rei didn't understand completely until his voice caught at the back of his throat and he rasped out, "Rei-chan."

He pulled back far enough that he could still clearly see Nagisa's face. The blond was in a general state of flustered disarray, his clothing and hair mussed up and faint marks littering the path from his neck to his chest. Rei hadn't sucked or bitten him hard in fear that he would leave lingering marks, but their recent irritation showed up in soft, pink welts which still glistened with his saliva.

Nagisa had released his grip on his hair a while ago, and his hand had dropped by his face with the palm facing up. His back of his fingers curled softly against his cheeks. Rei's gaze followed the curve of Nagisa's fingers to his partly-opened mouth.

Knowing full well that Rei was watching him, Nagisa let out a small whimper and arched his back and hips up, purposefully nudging the inside of his legs with his thighs.

Rei's mouth grew dry and the throbbing between his legs became worse. His eyes darted down. Though blurry, he could definitely see the bulge in Nagisa's uniform pants as well. Hesitantly, experimentally, he moved one of his knees between the blond's bent legs and pushed up gently.

The reaction was instantaneous.

Nagisa's eyes widened slightly, and his entire face became one of surprised pleasure. He couldn't even make an audible noise, except for the sharp gasp which made his chest hitch.

Heat flooded Rei as he watched the boy under him express himself so openly. He nudged his knee against Nagisa again harder, and this time, the blond let out a slightly muted moan. He pressed his fingers lightly over his parted lips, and Rei could see his tongue moving in his mouth between his fingers as Nagisa continued letting out incomplete whines.

His fingers shook as he gingerly rubbed his fingers over Nagisa's bared shoulder and chest before going up to his cheek and moving in for a kiss.

They moved their lips together slowly, breaths hot as they mingled between them.

The sound of rustling cloth filled their ears as Nagisa thrust his hips up and down, rubbing himself on Rei's leg. His entire body was undulating sensually, and Rei wondered if he could ever watch Nagisa swimming the butterfly normally again.

His thoughts were scattered when the blond began to mumble his name between gasps and moans.

Nagisa laughed breathlessly and shook his hair out of his eyes, his lower body coming to a short rest on top of Rei's thigh.

"It feels so good… but it kind of hurts now…" he said, eyes losing a bit of their lust and gaining a sort of lucid teasing.

Rei's head dropped onto his shoulder. "M-Me too," he admitted, muttering it into the blond's skin.

When Nagisa's shoulders shook once or twice as he giggled, Rei raised his head. The blond began to sit up, pushing him off with one hand on his shoulder. Confused, he leaned back too. He kissed back when Nagisa pecked him quickly on the lips, but he still didn't know what was going on.

Then he was being turned around and encouraged to lie down in the same place the blond was in just a few seconds ago. The floor felt warm against his back, but his face felt even warmer at their switched positions. Nagisa was on his lap, and his face was too far away for Rei to see clearly. He was leaning back on Rei's legs, which were slightly bent.

He must have been making some sort of fond expression at him, but Rei couldn't decipher it very well. Nagisa saw him squinting up at him, so he twisted around, scrabbled for something from the table, and turned back. Rei caught sight of his red frames between the blond's fingers seconds before they were pushed behind his ears. They didn't fall correctly on his face, so Nagisa fiddled with them for a bit before letting go.

"Better?" he asked, a cheeky grin on his face.

Rei pushed the glasses up further, just to hide his face for a second before answering. "Better."

"My turn."

"Huh?"

He wouldn't have minded an answer, but then Nagisa ground down on him, and he didn't care about anything anymore.

The entire time, he hadn't been touched, so the sudden hardness rubbing against him was almost too much. He arched back and let out a strangled groan. Rei cut it off halfway though, because he thought it sounded disgusting and it embarrassed him.

"Hmm, mmn, Rei—chan," Nagisa panted, his hips moving faster against him. "Ah—"

Nagisa was loud and enthusiastic, and he should have been put off by it, but instead, Rei found himself getting more and more aroused. The friction between them was so wonderful that he couldn't help but let out his own moans and sharp squeaks of pleasure. He didn't even know he could make those kinds of noises, but with Nagisa grinding on him like that with his head tossed back slightly and his shirt half-hanging off his shoulder, Rei discovered he had an entire set of noises he was capable of producing.

When he bucked up and tried to match Nagisa's rhythm, the blond let out a surprised yell which melted into a closed-mouth moan. They continued rubbing against each other until Nagisa slowed down and slid his hands down Rei's chest. He fiddled with the length of his tie before yanking it off and tracing around the buttons of his shirt.

Slowly, he untucked and began to unbutton it, his eyes trained on the fabric and fingers quivering. Rei felt himself twitch a little while watching Nagisa's intensely focused expression.

"I don't want you to get your clothes dirty, since you have nothing to change into later," Nagisa said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. His eyes darted to Rei's face just in time to see it gain a deep flush.

Rei tried to stammer something, but none of it was intelligible.

When he was done, Nagisa spread his shirt open. He placed his warm hands against Rei's chest and stayed still for a second, just feeling the skin beneath his palms. Then, he rubbed both his thumbs over Rei's nipples simultaneously.

Completely new to being touched there, Rei started.

"Nagisa-kun…" he said warningly. He wasn't sure whether he liked it or not, but it felt weird being so exposed.

The blond was biting the corner of his bottom lip, his gaze firmly locked on Rei's chest. "Sorry, I—"

But he didn't finish his apology before he repeated his earlier action, this time pressing his clothed erection over Rei's.

A loud moan cut through the room, and Rei's hands immediately came up to grip him by the wrists.

"You don't like it?" Nagisa asked breathlessly.

It was too mortifying a question to answer, so Rei just pulled him down and smashed their mouths together. He bucked his hips, throwing the smaller boy up and forward as they kissed. Now Rei wondered whether he could ever swim butterfly normally again after this. The undulation was too similar to the butterfly kick. He quickly brushed the thought away.

Their enthusiasm was a little too much this time around, and Nagisa ended up nipping Rei's mouth too hard, eliciting an angry "tsk" from him and a strong roll of his hips. Their teeth clicked together several times as well, but until things got too hot, neither of them broke away from the kiss.

"Hey, Rei-chan," he called out with an airy laugh. He swallowed hard, as if trying to keep down the nervous giggles that were coming up his throat. Nagisa buried his face against Rei's neck and hoarsely whispered into his ear. "Touch me."

His body jerked at Nagisa's sudden change in tone, but before he could really react, the blond had sat up, twisted his arms, and caught Rei's right hand between his own. He led it between his legs and pressed Rei's palm to his erection while thrusting lightly into it. Nagisa gasped at the sensation.

Embarrassed but turned on, Rei turned his hand until his fingers were stroking the base and the heel of his palm was at the tip of Nagisa's hardness. He rubbed firmly a few times in experimentation, carefully watching as the boy's expression changed.

"I-I want to feel you too," Nagisa said, his hips thrusting forward. "Against me—both of us—" He swallowed, too embarrassed and aroused to continue the sentence.

Rei licked his lips and nodded once jerkily.

His hands fumbled on the Nagisa's belt, but it came apart soon enough with a flurry of clanking noises. The blond sighed and watched with his fingertips lightly touching Rei's lower arms. Rei pulled it from the loops completely and carefully put the belt to his side.

The button slipped from his fingers a few times before coming undone. Both of them held their breaths as the zipper was pulled down. Nagisa squirmed impatiently. His boxers had a damp spot, and he was very clearly outlined against the form-fitting briefs.

He whimpered softly when Rei eased them down, watching as the cloth dragged across Nagisa's skin. His erection was stiff and red. When Nagisa saw Rei opening staring at him, he whined and twitched. Nagisa leaned his weight on his knees and straightened his back as Rei pulled his pants and boxers lower, until he was hanging freely.

He lowered himself again and spread his legs a little. With his eyes half-lidded, Nagisa reached for himself and used his index finger to rub over the slit of his cock. His eyes slipped shut as he breathed heavily at his own gentle touch. He looked down at Rei and pulled his finger away slowly, stretching out a string of pre-cum.

Rei didn't know where to look—at Nagisa's face or his erection. Either way, the tightness in his pants was getting beyond bearable, so he hurriedly took hands to his own belt. Getting it off was a little more successful this time around, and it was Nagisa who undid his pants.

The blond leaned over Rei's body as he pushed a hand beneath the hem of his boxers. Rei cried out softly when he felt Nagisa's warm hand stroke over him. His cry was muffled by Nagisa's mouth and tongue, which prodded him gently. With one hand feeling him, Nagisa used his other one to pull his boxers down until he was completely exposed.

"Na—gisa… kun," Rei groaned brokenly into their kiss as the boy took the head of his cock into his palm and rolled his wrist. Pre-cum oozed from his slit and wetted Nagisa's hand. He stroked Rei several times to lubricate him. It felt so different and strange with someone else's hand on him. Nagisa's touch was a little too light and careful, but his boldness was astounding. He kept rubbing his thumb across the sensitive head, unraveling him in the most torturous manner possible.

Then, Nagisa used the same hand to touch himself. Since the blond had his face pressed against his, Rei couldn't see, but he could hear the wet squelching noises that came from between them and the tiny grunts and squeaks that came from Nagisa's chest and throat.

Nagisa wiggled his hips until they were properly aligned. He stopped their kiss just long enough to push their erections together before sealing their breaths together again.

It was so hot.

With their bare skin touching like that, it was almost unendurable. Nagisa's hand held them both as they rubbed up against each other. The hard cock lined up to him felt foreign. But the friction was good. Nagisa's hand, which could barely wrap around both of them felt wonderful.

They were both moaning as their hips moved together, erections slick with pre-cum. Somewhere along the way, Rei had shoved his hand between them too and pressed his fingers around their cocks.

Nagisa had his nose and lips against his neck, occasionally panting with his mouth open then whimpering kisses onto his skin. His body moved in time of Rei's thrusts. It got wetter and wetter as moisture leaked out of their slits, smearing between their fingers and finally dripping onto Rei's heaving stomach. The sloppy wet noises which mingled with their broken voices urged them both closer to the edge.

It hadn't been long since they started, but they were already at their limit. Having teased each other so much and held back for as long as they have, neither of them could contain themselves anymore. Not with this heat and friction.

With the pleasure building in them, their breaths grew short and taut. Their muscles were tensing, and their rhythm falling apart. It was just messy now. Messy and loud, and so good, so good—

"Rei-chan," Nagisa choked out, his throat dry from panting so much. He backed up enough so that he could look at Rei in the eye. "Rei-chan, I—I'm—"

Rei nodded with some difficulty, his eyebrows knit in concentration as pleasure coursed through him. "Me too—" His lips suddenly shut as a particularly strong jolt of ecstasy ran down his spine. "Nngh! Nagisa-kun—…."

The blond pushed back and sat up again, so that Rei could clearly see everything between them. He kept his hand around their throbbing erections, and reached back to grip Rei's bent knee.

As the boy kept moving, he felt more pre-cum leak out of his cock. He was watching Nagisa quickly lose all forms of coherency above him, and it was the most erotic thing he had seen. A bead of sweat was coming down from his temple and trailing down his cheek. It quivered on the line of his jaw as they rocked their hips together.

Nagisa could barely keep his eyes open. He was still looking at Rei with his mouth parted, gaze heavy with arousal. The blond let out cries in time with their thrusts and moved his hand faster.

Rei could scarcely breathe as Nagisa came closer and closer to his release. Everything about the boy was absolutely mesmerizing. His shirt was completely wrinkled now and was still hanging off his shoulder. In the process of their rutting, a few more buttons had come apart, so it hung even more haphazardly than before. If Nagisa moved the right way, Rei could catch a glimpse of his nipple behind the white cloth.

It wasn't anything he had never seen from Nagisa before since they swam together daily, but somehow, the blond's half-clothed state was particularly lewd.

He had opened himself up completely for Rei as well. His legs were still spread apart, his thighs creating a V which led Rei's wandering gaze straight to the dripping hardness rubbing against his. He redoubled his efforts in bringing Nagisa to the edge. His other hand began to stroke the blond's shaking thigh.

"Rei—R-Rei!"

He was in so high a state that Nagisa couldn't even bother to add the suffix to his name anymore. His eyebrows furrowed deeply together, and his mouth opened silently. He maintained eye contact with Rei up until the point where his entire body stiffened, and his cock jerked in their hands. With his eyes tightly clenched, he arched his entire body toward Rei. Strings of cum spurted from his cock and onto Rei's stomach and chest.

He let out a series of closed-mouthed moans which escalated into unrestrained yells. As his pleasure built, so did the volume of his voice.

Nagisa was still cumming when Rei reached his peak. The pure obscenity of Nagisa's unrestrained cries sent him reeling into orgasm. It hit unexpectedly him, making him jerk and buck in sudden, overwhelming pleasure. His body spasmed involuntarily as he ejaculated. He whimpered brokenly and groaned as his hand continued to move. He spilled onto himself, adding to the mess that Nagisa had already created. Rei panted harshly as reached the end.

Even after they were both done, tiny shivers wracked their bodies, and they tingled everywhere.

Their breathing was labored and both of them looked like a mess.

Nagisa was still so dazed that he couldn't find the will to speak even after a few more seconds, so he just grinned cheekily at Rei, who had thrown his arms weakly on the floor and was panting. He kept his dirty hand slightly elevated from the mats though.

"That was… amazing," the blond finally rasped.

Rei only nodded.

The blond began giggling and leaned over Rei. He knocked their foreheads together and nuzzled him affectionately. Rei couldn't help but smile at Nagisa's action. Leave it to him to act so childishly right after they just finished something as adult as that.

Nagisa pressed their smiles together and giggled more.

When he pulled away, he looked at the boy beneath him with wide, excited eyes. Rei had no idea how he was still so energetic after all that. Breathlessly, Nagisa asked, "Hey, Rei-chan—will you go out with me?"

Rei's expression automatically turned offended. "You're asking me that now?"

"Is now a bad time?" the blond asked, his eyebrows rising up.

He would have pressed a hand to his forehead in exasperation if Nagisa wasn't leaning so close to him, so he settled for rolling his eyes. "Shouldn't you have asked before all this happened?"

"Eh? Really? Would that have been a better time?" Nagisa scrunched up his nose and jutted his lower lip out. "But isn't it better now? Since we both know we like each other a lot."

Nagisa brought up a good point, Rei admitted, but he still felt like they were doing things way out of order. He couldn't really explain to Nagisa or himself why that was, but—

He sighed and gave up.

"Well, whatever," he said.

Nagisa's eyes were still fixed on him. "But?"

"But what?"

"Will you go out with me?"

"Ah—…"

Somehow, Rei had forgotten Nagisa had even asked that, even though it was less than a minute since he brought it up. Being literally nose-to-nose with the blond while put under the pressure to answer such an important and embarrassing question made him blush hard.

The blond's breath was fanning over his face as he smiled widely down at him. Some of his curly bangs were tickling his forehead and the heavy smell of sweat and sex hung in the air. Nagisa looked so happy and expectant, and his heart did a little flip.

Rei swallowed and opened his mouth.

"Y-Yes. I'll go out with you," he replied. Not sure if that was enough, he stammered out, "Please treat me kindly from now on."

Nagisa let out a squeal of excitement and pressed a kiss against him hard, smothering him with affection. He was laughing into their kiss and, from his awkward position hanging over Rei, he squirmed and drummed the backs of his feet against the floor in quick succession. A flurry of taps staccattoed over the mats as he expressed his joy.

Then he began to rain kisses down over Rei's face, knocking his glasses off in the process. On his forehead, on his nose and next to it, on the corner of his mouth, and lightly over Rei's shut eyes and furrowed brows—he kissed everything.

Meanwhile, Rei struggled and tried to stop the boy, interrupted sentences like, "Wait, Nagi—Nagisa-kun!" "Can we at least clean up first—mmph!" and "—Getting kind of gross and cold, Nagisa-kun!" spilling from his lips.

In the end, Nagisa's antics made him laugh too. He used his clean hand to firmly hold the back of Nagisa's head and leaned up for a deep kiss, melting the smile from both their faces.

As Nagisa's heartbeat sped up, his giddiness level decreased.

Rei's tongue reached deep into his mouth, rolling and sliding over his as they kissed sweetly and languidly. The blond responded in kind, breathing through his nose and opening his mouth for his boyfriend-as-of-two-minutes-ago.

They came apart and tenderly kissed again once or twice, soft and wet noises pressing between them. Their smiles were warm and comfortable.

"I like you, Rei-chan."

His smile grew. "I like you too, Nagisa-kun."

They touched their foreheads together quietly and closed their eyes.

Several hours later, when Nagisa's parents came home, they found the boys in Nagisa's room, which looked like a warzone against education. Textbooks opened to various pages were sprawled on the floor, overlapping and overlapped by loose-leaf papers and notebooks. Scrap paper with lines and graphs fell in haphazard stacks.

Their son was in his pajamas and was curled up on the floor with his pillow tucked under his head and a faint smile on his lips. There was another boy next to him too. Tall and lanky, with his glasses perched precariously on his nose as his head lolled to the side and his mouth hung open. He was leaning against the bed, but had long since slumped over to one side, a notebook and calculator in his lap and a pencil near his loosely opened hand. He looked kind of roughed up, like he had left his shirt crumpled for too long and didn't to iron it before wearing it out.

Nagisa's parents raised their eyebrows at each other when they saw the scene but only quietly closed the door and let the two sleep.

An hour later and Nagisa and Rei's luck ran out when the older Hazuki girls returned.

After being shocked awake by the sound of high-pitched screaming, Rei found himself surrounded by bright-eyed girls asking him a ton of questions.

He grew cold with dread as he was bombarded from all sides. This was not what he signed up for at all.

But then he looked over to the blond, who was being rather forcibly nuzzled on the cheeks by one of his sisters, his chest warmed again, and he smiled automatically. He had one eye clenched shut and was complaining bodily, but Nagisa didn't seem to mind all that much. Rei finally understood where it all of Nagisa's enthusiasm came from.

The fleeting dismay that passed his mind went away immediately, and he tried to calm the other two Hazuki sisters and deflect their questions with an awkward smile.

He felt like nothing in the world could make him regret having fallen in love with Nagisa.