Archive of Our Own ^beta

It all started with a question.

“Kagi-kun, do you have any plans tomorrow after club activities?” Hirano asked out of nowhere, interrupting the silence of their studying.

Faced away from the blonde, Kagiura tilted his head, bumbling through the extra training sessions he had scheduled with his teammates in his mind. He twisted in his chair to answer. “I don’t think so, Hirano-san. Why? Is something going on?” he asked.

“Well,” Hirano started slowly, turning his chair until he was now staring at the back of his roommate’s head. Be casual, he thought. This is a normal, roommate thing to ask for help with. He took a deep breath. “I was talking to Sasaki earlier and noticed how his dye-job is like, super even, despite him being horrible with his hands. And he said that it got way better after Miyano started helping him with it.”

Kagiura’s skin tingled. Where exactly is this going? Curious, he turned his chair to face Hirano and immediately flushed upon seeing how intensely the blonde was looking at him. He noticed the slight blush running up his roommate’s neck, as well as him steadily clenching and unclenching his hands.

He must be embarrassed about whatever he’s asking me, Kagiura thought, surprised. He nodded to show he was listening and tried for an encouraging smile.

“Right. So,” Hirano continued, wringing his hands in his lap. Kagiura was once again struck by how uncharacteristically nervous Hirano seemed. His heart stuttered anxiously.

Jeez, now he was getting nervous.

“So, bleaching your roots is kind of difficult by yourself because you can’t really see what you’re doing. I mean, it’s the back of your head and doing that whole two-mirror thing can only go so far, you know?”

Kagiura nodded once again, dutifully acting as if he had any idea what Hirano was talking about.

Hirano ran a hand up the side of his face, obviously losing steam. “Uh, so, Sasaki said that he has Miyano bleach the roots, he does the toner himself, and it takes like, way less time. And it turns out better,” he said, eyes raising to look at his kohai.

Despite his best efforts to stay calm, an eager grin quickly took over Kagiura’s face as he blinked back in response. He couldn’t help chuckling incredulously because no way!

Hirano sighed heavily, taking in the brunette’s increasingly excited expression. “Yeah, so…” He spared another glance at his roommate and scowled, hunching his shoulders self-consciously in a feeble attempt to hide his face. Kagiura smiled at the action. He’s really cute.

“Dammit, Kagi! Can you stop looking at me like that? This is embarrassing!” Hirano groused, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

And Kagiura really couldn’t help it, he immediately started laughing. Hirano bolted out of his chair, aggressively ruffling his kohai’s hair and cursing as the younger held up his hands in mock-surrender.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Kagiura apologized as his giggles finally died out. He looked to find his stewing roommate curled-up defensively in his chair, grumbling into his hand. The brunette cleared his throat, smoothing his hands up and down his thighs to try to settle down. “I’m sorry, Hirano-san. You just rarely act nervous.” He smiled, eyes crinkling. “So this was a real treat for me.”

“Kagi-kun! Dammit, you can’t just-!” The blonde let out a defeated sigh, blush warming the back of his neck. “Ya know, I was nervous about asking you this all day,” he started, eyeing Kagiura. “But not because I thought you were gonna laugh at me.”

Kagiura pouted. “Aw. Come on, Hirano-san! I never get to see you like this. It’s a novelty!”

Hirano returned to his grumbling and Kagiura smiled. “What is it you wanted to ask me, Hirano-san? I promise I won’t laugh!” He positioned his hand in a mock-salute, adding, “Scout’s honor!”

Hirano rolled his eyes, muttering an aimless, “you weren’t even a boy scout” before taking a deep breath and looking Kagiura directly in the eye.

The brunette held his breath in anticipation, skin tingling excitedly.

Hirano barely managed to get out his question of “How would you feel about helping me touch up my roots?”, before Kagiura delightedly shouted, “I’d love to!”

The next morning, Kagiura yawned tiredly while crouching to tug on his shoes. It was Saturday, after this morning’s practice he could just hang out for the rest of the weekend. He mulled over the drills he knew his team was working on that day in his head, looking up sharply when he felt a hand gently tousling his hair.

“Bedhead,” Hirano murmured simply in explanation while yawning into his hand. He raised a brow at his roommate’s flustered expression. Kagiura pouted and ducked his head, mumbling a “not fair” as he finished putting on his shoes.

Standing, Kagiura looked to his waiting senpai.

“Do good at practice,” Hirano said simply, again lifting his hand to ruffle the brunette’s hair.

Kagiura smiled softly at the action and, in a fit that he could only describe as madness, reached his own hand out and gently raked it back through his roommate’s bangs. He found himself oddly transfixed by Hirano’s rarely-exposed forehead, and he didn’t miss that the blonde had already put in his earrings.

“Pretty,” he murmured to himself, smiling softly.

Hirano made a choking sound, immediately turning away as his face erupted in a dark blush.

Okay, not to himself.

“You’ve been really flustered around me lately,” Kagiura commented brightly, leaning this way and that to try and get a peek at Hirano’s red face. “Are you sure you’re not in love with me?”

“Of- of course not! You’re just shameless!” Hirano whisper-shouted. It was still early after all. “A-and also,” he said, whipping out his phone and frantically searching before pulling up the YouTube app.

Kagiura’s phone pinged three times. “Watch those videos when you have time. I know what I’m doing so nothing’s gonna like, go wrong. But it’ll be helpful if you have an idea of what goes into the bleaching and toning process before we start,” Hirano said, slipping his phone back into the pocket of his hoodie with a huff.

Kagiura tilted his head innocently before grinning and asking, “Toning?”

Hirano turned his eyes to the ceiling in a silent prayer. He reached past Kagiura to tear the door open before physically shoving his giggling roommate out. “Just watch the videos!” he seethed tiredly, no bite to his words.

He shut the door to a “Bye-bye, Hirano-san!” before collapsing onto his bed and sighing.

Kagi-kun is a menace.

During self-study, Kagiura excitedly recapped that morning’s Hirano-san Report to an ever-patient Niibashi.

“And then he blushed! Like full-on blushed!” Kagiura gushed- way too shamelessly in Niibashi’s opinion. “Gosh, Niibashi, you should have seen him. He’s gorgeous,” he said wistfully, eyes sparkling and blissfully unaware of those in the classroom eyeing him curiously.

Niibashi made a distasteful face, eyes flicking worriedly to scan the classroom- he still had war flashbacks from when the words “did he say… ‘horny’?” were directed at him- and sighed so heavily that it even brought Kagiura out of his Hirano-san induced daze.

The brunette pouted. “Aww. What’s wrong, Nii-chan?” he cooed, poking the other’s shoulder.

The redhead flushed, standing immediately and bringing his fist down hard on Kagiura’s head. Ignoring his friend’s indignant cry of “hey!”, he took a deep breath and held up a finger. “One,” he started. “Don’t call me that! What is wrong with you?”

Kagiura pouted, blocking Niibashi’s second attempt to hit him.

“And two,” Niibashi continued, much quieter. He sat and calmly straightened his blazer, trying to act as if he hadn’t just caused a scene. “You are being way too loud! Do you want the entire class to know that- that you’re…?” he trailed off, vaguely motioning with his hand.

At his friend’s innocently confused face, Niibashi sighed. He leaned over the desk separating them to continue, almost speaking directly into Kagiura’s ear. “That you’re gay?”

Kagiura pulled back and raised a brow at the redhead, cocking his head. Niibashi prickled when his friend responded at a completely normal volume. “Why would I care if people know I’m ga-?”

“Shhh!” Niibashi hissed, waiting a second before removing his hand from where he’d just slapped it over his friend’s mouth. “You’re way too shameless, Kagiura! Listen,” he sighed. “If you want to come out then of course I’ll support you. I just don’t want you to do it on a whim without fully considering the consequences.” He frowned, eyeing his friend earnestly. “You need to remember that not everyone is as nice as you are.”

Kagiura considered him for a moment.

“A-and I’m not just saying that to be an asshole! I just- I care, alright? I don’t want to see you getting hurt because you didn’t think things through.”

Niibashi tried to ignore the soft smile warming the brunette’s face at his words but relented in the end. He scowled, embarrassed, as he reached out and roughly patted Kagiura’s head a single time before swiftly turning back around to face forwards in his seat.

A beat of silence passed.

“And make sure you watch those videos Hirano-senpai sent you. You don’t wanna be the reason all his hair falls out.”

Kagiura whipped his head up, suddenly shaken to his core. “Fa- falls out?!”

“Alright class, self-study is over. Open your textbooks to chapter 22, I’ll pass back the worksheets…”

“Niibashi, what do you mean?” Kagiura whispered frantically. “Niibashi?!”

It was 7 PM, Kagiura was walking back into the dorm building after finishing after-school practice-

And he was freaking out.

He’d watched the videos Hirano-san had sent to him, and the process seemed easy enough. He was fully confident in his senpai’s know-how. Hirano-san would not lead him astray. He would not let Kagiura ruin his hair. He knew that. He knew it, but…

But then he saw that damn recommended video on Youtube.

He really should’ve known from the title. When he caught the “Hairdresser Reacts To People Bleaching Their Hair Till It Falls Off” in his peripheral, he knew he should’ve just ignored it. And yet…

Kagiura swears his fight-or-flight response kicked in the second he tapped the video.

Heart pounding, he watched the video play, it’s sixteen-minute run-time passing as if in slow motion. Watching in surmounting horror, the titles of each featured bleach-fail burned themselves permanently into his mind.

“BLEACHING MY HAIR!! *GONE WRONG*”

“I Fried My Hair Off ( BLEACH FAIL ) PT 1”

When he saw the next recommended video, “Hairdresser Reacts To Girl Melting Her Hair Off With Bleach”, he silently turned his phone screen off and took a moment to contemplate his life.

He watched it anyways.

Plagued with the memories of his earlier YouTube deep-dive and the invasive images of a… he shuddered, of a bald Hirano-san, Kagiura slumped against the wall as he unlocked the door to his dorm room.

He was greeted by Hirano spinning in his chair to face him, sporting that big, infectious grin. The one that made his eyes crinkle and showed his teeth. “Welcome back, Kagi-kun!”

Kagiura’s heart skipped a beat, a grin quickly replacing the grimace on his face. He felt his energy levels skyrocket.

Earlier existential crisis forgotten, he replied, “I’m back, Hirano-san!” before removing his shoes and setting his bag on his bed.

“Whatcha doing?” the brunette asked as he approached his roommate.

“Oh!” Hirano exclaimed. He leaned to the side so Kagiura could see what he’d been messing with at his desk.

Kagiura’s blood ran cold when he saw the unmistakable blue tub sitting innocently on the desk. The bright Quick Blue bleach logo seemed to taunt him. He took a step back.

His eyes scanned the rest of the desk, each bottle glaring back at him menacingly.

“I think I have everything,” Hirano commented. “Bleach, developer, toner. Yeah.” he named, mentally ticking off each product.

When he turned back to his kohai, the younger’s eyes were quickly looking between him and the products, clearly distraught.

“Kagi-kun?”

Kagiura made a distressed whining sound.

Hirano squinted at him, concerned. “Kagi, what’s- “

“Ughhhh!” Kagiura groaned loudly, immediately grabbing his head in anguish and falling to his knees in front of his startled senpai.

Hirano’s hands hovered uneasily over his roommate’s slumped shoulders. “Kagi-kun, what’s going on?”

“I- I just-!” He groaned again and then folded into himself, defeated.

Hirano sighed heavily at the brunette’s theatrics. He lightly bonked Kagiura on the head. “What’s wrong, dummy?” he asked.

When Kagiura didn’t so much as lift his head, Hirano bristled slightly. “Hey,” he said, glowering. He clenched his fist, worriedly eyeing his roommate’s still form. “Kagi, I’m talking to you.”

With no response to his words, his patience snapped. “Kagiura!” Hirano gritted out in a harsh whisper. The brunette in question looked up sharply at the use of his full surname, eyes wide. “What the hell is going on?”

Kagiura instantly recoiled and Hirano frowned, suddenly feeling guilty. That was too much, wasn’t it? He sighed again, running his hand up the side of his face. Dammit.

“Listen, I didn’t mean it to sound like that,” Hirano started, standing. He really didn’t like the look the Kagi-kun just had on his face. Hirano had to work himself up to look at his roommate. And when he did, Kagi-kun, well he was…

He was glaring at him.

Glaring! At him!

Glaring and… pouting.

Pouting cutely.

Hirano frowned harder.

“What the fu-“

“Hirano-san, you’re so mean!” Kagiura interrupted, sporting the biggest, most dramatic pout Hirano had ever seen on his face. “You hurt my feelings!”

Hirano collapsed back into his chair, turning an exhausted eye towards his kohai. He groaned at the boy’s sulking and reached down to ruffle Kagiura’s hair.

Try as he might, the brunette couldn’t keep the pout on his face. As Hirano roughly tousled the brown strands, he smirked when he saw Kagiura’s mouth wobbling. It was that stupid thing he did when he was trying not to smile, and it kind of made Hirano want to smile too.

“Are you done being dramatic now?” he asked, thoughtlessly twirling a piece of hair around his finger.  

Kagiura turned away, indignant. “No.”

“Well tough shit,” Hirano said. He settled his elbow on his knee, lazily propping his head up in his palm. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

The younger settled on his knees, petulantly looking anywhere but at his roommate.

“Kagi-kun…” Hirano warned.

“Gah! Fine!” Kagiura relented and immediately launched into a frantic tirade. “I watched the videos you sent, and there was a recommended video. And it was terrifying! A-and Niibashi said you’d go bald! Bald, Hirano-san! Bald!” He took a deep breath. “I can’t be responsible for that! I-It’s just way too much pressure! I’m so sorry!”

“Kagi-kun,” Hirano began slowly, taking in Kagiura’s frantic expression. “…what the fuck are you talking about?”

“What am I-?” the brunette repeated incredulously. “Your hair, Hirano-san! I’m talking about your beautiful, blonde hair!” he said, gesturing wildly at his roommate.

The blonde quirked a brow, almost chuckling. “But-“

“I- I just-!” Kagiura sighed, eyes softening. He looked up at his senpai and, on instinct, reached out to gently run his hand through the side bangs framing Hirano’s face.

Hirano stilled at the contact, the tips of his ears hot. He sat unmoving as Kagiura very, very slowly tucked his hair behind his ear, saying, “Your hair is really nice. A-and I really like it! You-“ he sighed. “You always look so good, Hirano-san. Blonde hair suits you so well.” The brunette looked up at his senpai earnestly. “It’d kill me if I were the one to ruin it.”

Kagiura finished his speech with his fingers lingering just behind the blonde’s ear, softly twisting the strands there.

Hirano swallowed heavily. “W-what exactly do you expect to go wrong?”

“I don’t know! Anything!” The younger began anxiously rustling his fingers through the shorter hairs at the blonde’s nape. Hirano tried to ignore the sharp jolt he felt every time one of Kagiura’s blunt nails would softly scrape over his skin. “I-I could accidentally burn you. A chemical burn! Or, um- or I could leave the bleach on too long and literally melt your hair off your scalp!”

“B-but that’s not-“

Kagiura suddenly bolted upright, standing on his knees between Hirano’s spread legs. He moved his hand to lightly grip the back of his senior’s neck and pull him closer. In a hushed warning, he said, “Hirano-san! If the toner is left on too long your hair will turn purple! And even you couldn’t get away with that!”

The brunette’s grip got a breath tighter on his final exclamation, and Hirano, in an event that he would later vehemently deny ever happened, experienced a full-body shudder.

“Jesus- fuck!” Hirano shouted, arching his neck back in an attempt to get his junior to let go.

Kagiura’s eyes widened comically, and he immediately dropped his hand as both boys flushed scarlet.

“S-sorry!” Kagiura said, hands held up placatingly.

“Just-!” The more time that passed, the darker Hirano’s blush got. “Just go sit in your own damn chair!”

Kagiura scurried to his seat, trying to commit what just happened to memory. That was…

He shivered.

Whoa.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Hirano was mostly composed, save for the red flushing the back of his neck.

“Listen,” he started. “Nothing like that is going to happen, okay? I literally do this every few weeks- by myself- and have never had a problem.”

He briefly went over the process, gesturing to the products as he went. “The only thing you have to remember is not to get bleach on the hair that’s already bleached. Got it?”

“Nnnnn,” Kagiura whined. “Are you sure? Those videos made it seem way worse. Much more… high stakes.”

“I swear. Nothing bad is going to happen.” Hirano promised, crossing his finger over his heart before giving his junior a questioning look. “So… you’ll do it?”

The brunette sat for a moment, running through all of his BeauTuber-induced fears in his mind. He glanced at Hirano and saw a teasing smirk on his face. He raised a brow at his kohai. “Well?”

Yeah, Kagiura thought, shamelessly enamored. That smile wins.

“Well, I mean I did say I would, and a man never goes back on his word! So, yes!” he exclaimed. “I’ll do my best!”

The blonde chuckled, smiling. “Scout’s honor?” he asked.

Kagiura stood from his chair, saluting his senpai.

Hirano’s eyes filled with mirth. “What, no ‘osu’?”

The younger bowed down expectantly, giggling as Hirano patted his head.

Hirano tsked. “Spoiled.”

Half an hour later and the boys were ready to get started.

Hirano and Kagiura were wearing matching, over-sized black shirts. Both sporting an array of bleach splotches that ranged from orange to white. The blonde had tossed the balled-up garment at his roommate earlier, merely grunting “hair-dying shirt” in explanation to Kagiura’s questioning look.

Hirano grabbed the bowl and the tint brush from his desk. Turning to his roommate he said, “Now listen, technically we’re not supposed to be using bleach in… well, anywhere. The sliding door’s open so the smell will air-out by the time we go to bed. However,” he said, eyes locking onto Kagiura’s. “If we are found out,” he continued, annunciating slowly. “You tried to convince me not to and I insisted. You had no part in this, understand?”

The younger pouted, grumbling, “I’m not gonna throw you under the bus, Hirano-san.”

The blonde leaned forwards and locked eyes with his roommate. “Yes, you are. No discussions. I’m serious.” He turned back to his desk and began measuring out the bleach powder and developer, adding, “I’m not letting you get in trouble just ‘cause I like my hair a certain way. That’d be stupid.”

A minute later and Hirano was sat in his chair, scooting it closer to the open door. Kagiura stood at the ready, hands buzzing with nervous excitement.

“Alright. So, for starters, this stuff smells really bad. Like, burns your eyes bad,” he said while vigorously using the brush to mix the powder and developer into a smooth, blue paste. “If you need a break, just take it. We have time.”

Kagiura nodded, taking the bowl and brush Hirano handed him.

God, this stuff really does stink.

He took a deep breath through his mouth and turned towards his senpai. He glanced at Hirano’s hair part, for the first time really taking notice of the dark roots.

“Huh.” Kagiura voiced. At Hirano’s questioning grunt, he said, “I never really noticed your roots before, but now that I’m looking at them I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”

The brunette lightly ran his finger over the part, dryly remarking, “Your hair’s really dirty, Hirano-san.”

“Wha-“ Hirano bristled. “Shut the hell up!” He blindly slapped behind his back, managing to hit Kagiura in the chest with a dull thud. “It’s supposed to be dirty! The oils help protect your hair and scalp, stupid!”

“Okay, okay!” the younger surrendered, giggling. He took a deep breath to compose himself. “Okay. I-I’m going to start.”

Kagiura swirled the brush throughout the bleach paste and carefully brushed it to cover the dark growth of Hirano’s hair.

Don’t get it on his scalp. Don’t get it on the hair that’s already bleached, he reminded himself. Hirano-san cannot be bald!

He worked slowly, meticulously coating the dark hair in a thick layer of bleach. When he’d finished with Hirano’s part, he released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“This- this isn’t so bad!” he said. Kagiura took one of the hairclips Hirano had secured to the sleeve of the brunette’s borrowed shirt and carefully created a new part in the blonde’s hair next to the first, sectioning the already-bleached hair away from the rest.

He continued his task, quickly finishing covering the overgrowth on the longer hair on top of Hirano’s head. When all that hair had been sectioned away from the blonde’s bangs, he lightly pushed on Hirano’s forehead, silently urging the boy to tilt his head back.

With the blonde now staring back at him, Kagiura felt the familiar badump start up in his chest, his face growing warm. He shook his head and got to work on the overgrowth on Hirano’s bangs, trying to keep the trembling in his hands to a minimum.

When he gently swiped his hand over the blonde’s forehead to reveal the dark roots on his hairline, Hirano released a contented sigh and slumped comfortably in his chair, his eyes fluttering closed. The top of his head rested against Kagiura’s chest.

Jeez, that badump was really starting to pick up speed.

Kagiura soldiered on through his heart palpitations, and when all of the longer hair’s roots were properly coated in bleach and pinned back, he paused.

“Um, Hirano-san?” he asked tentatively. Hirano’s responding “hmm” had him continuing. “The videos were all on girls with long hair, I’m not sure what to do about the short pieces in the back.”

“Oh, just… do your best?” the blonde offered unhelpfully, gesturing vaguely with his hand.

Kagiura stilled, suddenly nervous. “Wait. You- you do know how to do this, right?”

Hirano shrugged. He shrugged!

“I mean, honestly, I usually just like, lather it into the back and then-“

“Hirano-san!” Kagiura admonished suddenly, clearly distraught.  He grabbed his elder’s shoulders, turning the blonde towards him. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”

Even God himself couldn’t have told Hirano what the fuck his roommate was talking about in that moment. He quirked a brow at the brunette. “What’re you freaking out about now?”

Kagiura groaned, throwing up his hands. “Hirano-san!” he said, at this point completely unhinged. He continued, clapping his hands dramatically to punctuate each word that came out of his mouth. “Bleach- doesn’t- lather!”

A minute passed in tense silence. Kagiura stood still in front of his sitting roommate, hands clasped and breathing hard as he looked down at the surprised look on Hirano’s face at his outburst.

Slowly, the brunette watched as the corner of Hirano’s mouth twitched upwards, a smile beginning to split his features.

Then Hirano started laughing harder than Kagiura had ever seen before. Like, eyes closed, mouth open, uncontrollable laughter. “K-Kagi-kun,” Hirano stuttered, gasping, his face bright red in his amusement. “Were you- were you watching-“ he tried, again breathlessly breaking down into laughter.

And it wasn’t like the amused chuckle Hirano often directed towards him, the one that kind of sounded light, like bells tinkling. It was more of a roaring, raucous laugh that had the blonde doubled over in his chair, clutching his stomach.

Kagiura was struck breathless and Hirano...

Well, Hirano was absolutely dazzling.  

Kagiura’s chest swelled with pride. He had made Hirano-san laugh like that.

Flushing in satisfaction, Kagiura put on his best teasing pout. “Hirano-saaaaan,” he whined.

The blonde covered his mouth with his hand, attempting to smother his giggles. When he looked at Kagiura again, his eyes were so full of mirth that it made something warm tighten in the brunette’s stomach.

“Sorry, sorry! I’m sorry, Kagi-kun,” he wheezed, still winded from laughing. “I just- were you watching Brad Mondo videos?”

At Kagiura’s responding nod, Hirano devolved into giggles again. “It’s no wonder you were so freaked out!” he laughed. “Those are like a 101 on how to destroy your hair.”

Hirano sighed, wiping a tear from his eye. “Look, what I was saying before-“

“That you lather-“

“Yes, yes!” Hirano said, waving him off with a roll of his eyes. “Had you let me finish. I was going to say that I lather- yes, lather- it into the back and then just get my hair trimmed after. I already have a haircut scheduled for tomorrow.”

Kagiura considered that.

Oh.

“Oh,” he voiced. “I-I get it! So, you just get the hair that was bleached twice cut off afterwards. That’s…” Kagiura nodded to himself, deciding he was okay with this method. “Yeah, that makes sense! Good idea, Hirano-san!”

Hirano rolled his eyes, eyeing the clock. “Yeah, yeah. Now could you please…?” He gestured to the back of his head.

The brunette startled. “Y-yes! Of course!” he said, grabbing the forgotten bowl of bleach.

Hirano shook his head fondly.

An absolute menace.

A few minutes later and Hirano was setting a timer for twenty minutes on his phone. He tossed a hand mirror at his kohai as he sat cross-legged on his bed, back facing his roommate. “Hold this up for me,” he instructed.

“Umm,” Kagiura fumbled with the mirror before raising it behind Hirano’s head. “Like this?”

The blonde raised his own mirror in front of him, adjusting it until he could clearly see the back of his head. He poked around with the sharp end of a comb for a few moments, checking his roots. “Huh,” he voiced, sounding surprised. “You actually did a really good job.”

“I- I did?” Kagiura stuttered, pleased with himself. He caught Hirano looking right at him in the reflection of the senior’s mirror. Hirano’s eyes crinkled as he smiled.

“Yeah, you did,” he murmured back.

Blushing, Kagiura started shuffling from foot to foot. “I-Is this the whole ‘two-mirror’ thing you were talking about earlier?” he asked, gesturing to the mirror in his hand.

Hirano raised a questioning brow at his kohai. “Oh! Yeah.” He stood and pushed the younger towards his desk chair. “Here, sit down.”

Kagiura did as he was told, and his ears grew hot when Hirano muttered a teasing “so obedient” as he sat down.

Hirano raised his own mirror up behind Kagiura’s head and motioned for the brunette to do the same. Kagiura suddenly found himself starring at the back of his own head, which is something he can confidently say he’d never done before.

“Yeah. So usually there would be a like, fixed mirror. Like at home I have a mirror hanging on the wall. You usually wouldn’t need someone to hold it up. But,” Hirano ruffled the back of Kagiura’s hair. “This way, you can see what you’re doing as you’re doing it. It’d be next to impossible to bleach your own hair without it.”

“What do you usually do?” Kagiura asked curiously, turning in his chair to face his senpai.

Hirano reached to scratch at the back of his neck, looking somewhat sheepish. “Well, usually I sit on the edge of a sink in the bathroom and use the mirror there.”

Kagiura blinked back at him. “You… sit on the edge of the sink, with one hand holding the mirror and the other holding the brush? While bleaching your hair? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“No, no,” Hirano said, waving him off. “It’s fine, I’ve never fallen. I have great reflexes.”

At the responding silence, Hirano’s shoulders hitched up defensively. He looked at his roommate’s pursed lips and face full of doubt. “What?”

“You totally don’t,” Kagiura said dryly. “You run into me like, every single day.”

Hirano scowled at him. “That’s not even true. You run into me.”

Kagiura’s brows raised incredulously. “I do not! You can’t even walk straight!”

The blonde opened his mouth to retort, looking scandalized, but was interrupted. “No, seriously!” Kagiura laughed. “Whenever we’re walking side-by-side you always end up walking into me. You’re like a crab.”

“I am not-!”

The brunette continued, laughing. “Or- or like one of those mountain goats. You know, the ones whose legs are all shorter on one side so they don’t fall off cliffs and stuff.”

“You-!” Hirano started before the piercing beep, beep, beep of his phone timer rang out. He took a deep breath, turning away from his roommate to silence the alarm. He turned back to Kagiura only to find him giggling into his hand, eyes shining.

“Shut up!” Hirano seethed, embarrassed, as he shoved at the giggling Kagiura. Do I really do that? he questioned to himself. I never even noticed! Why didn’t he say anything?!

Grabbing a towel, the blonde walked to the door and began putting on his shoes, grumbling, “I’m gonna to go wash the bleach out.” 

“Aw, Hirano-san! Don’t be like that!” the brunette called out to him. As Hirano continued muttering obscenities under his breath, Kagiura smiled teasingly. He inhaled deeply, preparing to put his life on the line. “Aw, c’mon, Crab-kun!” he sing-songed.

The blonde swiftly grabbed one of Kagiura’s sneakers sat by the door and then turned, launching it at the brunette.

When the shoe hit the side of Kagiura’s desk, four feet to the younger’s right, Kagiura burst into laughter.

“Oh my God!” the blonde seethed, standing as his kohai staggered after him.

Still giggling, Kagiura reached out to grab the sleeve of Hirano’s shirt. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he gasped, face red from laughing. He looked at Hirano’s blushing face earnestly, smile still splitting his features. “Let me rephrase,” he said, holding up a hand to collect himself before continuing. “Goat-kun-“

“I’m taking a shower!” Hirano shouted before storming out of the room, slamming the door shut to the sound of Kagiura’s bright laughter.

Kagiura was laying belly-down on his bed, excitedly relaying the past hour to Niibashi over the phone.

“He was so red, Niibashi! He’s been so flustered around me lately. That’s a sign he’s falling in love with me, right?” he asked, kicking his legs back and forth.

“Didn’t you just say he threw a shoe at you?” Niibashi voiced dryly.

The brunette pouted. “That’s beside the point! He asked me to help him! He’s relying on me more!”

The redhead rolled his eyes before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I- I suppose it could be interpreted that way, yeah.” He sat for a moment, squinting his eyes, considering before continuing in a mutter with, “Though I guess him seeking out you specifically instead of one of his other friends who actually knows how to dye hair is kind of a big deal…”

Kagiura’s head perked up, listening intently as Niibashi continued quietly, deep in thought. “Though when you really think about it, the implication is definitely there. I mean, every time you see him after tonight, you’ll be able to just look at his hair and think ‘I’m the one who did that, that was me’. I wonder if he’s even considered that,” he grumbled.

At the responding silence, Niibashi bristled. “A-And don’t take that the wrong way! I’m not saying he’s in love with you or anything! Just- just that he seems really…” He gestured vaguely with his hand, searching for the right words. “Really… unguarded with you. Like he feels safe with you, I guess.”

The door to his dorm room opened suddenly, startling Kagiura. He dropped his phone in his shock, his hands hovering over his earbuds.

Hirano was leaning against the doorframe, one hand rubbing a towel through his hair as he spoke softly with Hanzawa.

When their eyes caught each other’s, Hirano flashed him a lazy grin. He nodded along to the dorm head’s words as he tugged the towel off his head and briefly met Kagiura’s eyes once more. The blonde gestured to his hair and then shot the brunette a thumbs up, winking at him.

Kagiura’s heart stuttered in his chest, his cheeks warming. Niibashi’s recent words filled his head.

That was me.

He feels safe with you.

Kagiura’s ear twitched. It was almost like he could still hear him…

“Kagiura? What the hell, did you die?”

The brunette suddenly realized that Niibashi was actually still talking to him.

“Ah! S-sorry, Niibashi!” he stuttered. “I- I’ll have to call you back later! Thanks!”

He tapped the red end call button on his phone screen before tearing the earbuds out of his ears and flipping over to sit upright on his bed.

A few moments later and Hirano was shutting their door, turning to face him as he tossed the damp towel over the back of his desk chair. “Well,” he began. “Hanzawa could smell the developer.”

At Kagiura’s worried face, he quickly added, “We’re not in trouble or anything, Hanzawa doesn’t care.” He moved towards his desk, grabbing a small white box and a larger, purple bottle of developer. He turned the box over in his hand, eyes quickly scanning over the small print written there. “I should’ve known he’d recognize it. He’s like a damn blood hound…” he muttered.

“That’s the… toner, right?” Kagiura asked, pointing to the small box in his roommate’s hand.

Hirano looked down at the box. “Yeah, I got 9G this time instead of the 8G I usually get. So, it’ll be a little lighter. Like, not as yellow. Just a little bit different,” he finished as he removed a brown bottle from the little box, opened it, and dumped in into the bowl.

Kagiura considered this. Just a little bit different…

“That was me.”

He shivered.

Hirano sat at his desk and held the now-empty brown bottle up to the light. He carefully filled the bottle with developer twice, dumping it in the bowl after each and furiously mixing it with the brush.

“Holy shit,” the blonde gasped, gagging as he held the bowl away from him and quickly walked it over to the open door. “I always forget how potent this shit is.”

Kagiura cocked his head. “It smells bad?” he asked just as the heavy scent of chemicals assaulted him, stinging his eyes. “Oh my God!” he choked out, quickly darting to join his senpai at the door.

They both stood, deeply breathing in the clean night air from the open door. Hirano had tears forming in the corners of his eyes as he looked to Kagiura. “Sorry about that. You always think the bleach smell is the worst it’ll get… and then you smell the toner.”

Hirano set the bowl of toner on the floor of the balcony, staring at it distrustfully for a moment before pushing it further from the door with his foot. Better to be safe.

“One sec,” he murmured, disappearing into the room.

He came back out, tugging a rubber glove onto his hand, the other hanging from his mouth.

Kagiura started. “What are you doing?”

The elder arched a brow at him slowly, situating the glove onto his hand. “What do you mean ‘what am I doing’?” he asked, voice muffled around the glove. “I’m trying not to get chemical burns on my hands. Is there an issue?”

“B-but-!” Kagiura protested. He looked at his senpai purposefully before averting his eyes away, immediately feeling guilty at his possessiveness. “I just… I really wanted to do it for you,” he finished lamely. I’m being selfish.

Hirano looked at him for a moment, considering, before pulling the glove off of his hand and grabbing the one from his mouth. He held them out to Kagiura, waiting a moment in silence before shaking them at him impatiently and asking, “Well? You wanted to do it, right?”

Kagiura timidly took the offered gloves, taking a moment to pull them onto his hands. He flexed his hands once. Twice.

“These are really small.”

Hirano bristled. “Of course, they’re small! Not everyone is a damn giant!”

The brunette laughed. “Hirano-san, that’s mean!”

Rolling his eyes, the blonde yanked his desk chair over the threshold that held the sliding door, the chair barely fitting on the narrow balcony. He sat facing away from his kohai as he leaned down and grabbed the bowl of toner from the ground. “Here,” he offered, and when the brunette took the bowl from his raised hand, he continued.

“So, this part is super easy. It’s not the right way to do it, but I’m lazy and it works,” he explained flippantly. “Basically, you’re gonna take a handful of toner and just… mush it into all of my hair. Like, cover that shit in toner,” he emphasized.

Kagiura’s eyes flicked between Hirano’s damp hair and the bowl of foul-smelling goo in his gloved hand. “Are you absolutely sure you want this stuff in your hair? It smells… unsafe.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hirano said, waving him off. “I use it all the time. Just make sure everything is covered.”

The brunette steeled himself and dipped his hand into the substance. He made a face.

Ew.

Against his better judgement, he did as he was instructed, obediently taking a handful of the toner before allowing it to drip off of his hand onto Hirano’s head. Kagiura began smoothing the toner over his senpai’s hair, careful to keep it from running down his neck. He repeated this process until the entirety of Hirano’s hair was unrecognizable under the mess of lavender goo.

“Okay,” he announced, peeling the ruined gloves off. “I think I’m done! What’s next?”

Hirano stood, beckoning Kagiura to follow as he walked back into their room. He again plopped on his bed, mirror in hand. He gestured to the other mirror sitting on the younger’s desk.

Kagiura raised the mirror behind his senpai and, for a few moments, watched while Hirano gently checked the brunette’s work with the comb he’d used earlier.

When the blonde turned around, lowering his mirror, and flashed his kohai a smile, Kagiura couldn’t help matching it.

“You did good!” the blonde commended, reaching out his free hand. Kagiura quickly lowered his head, giddy from the praise, and allowed Hirano to ruffle his hair.

The elder grabbed his phone, quickly setting a timer for fifteen minutes. He looked up at his kohai. “So, now we just wait a bit, I’ll wash my hair again, condition, and then we’re done,” Hirano announced, once again grabbing the hand mirror and starting to wipe the excess toner from his skin with a towel.

Kagiura laid down on his bed, putting on a guise of mindlessly scrolling through Reddit on his phone. He stole more than a few glances at Hirano, appreciating how relaxed he seemed in what felt like a strangely intimate situation.

The brunette had to admit, as pretty as Hirano is, he looked really goofy right now. He was lounging in sweatpants and an enormous, stained shirt, his hair slicked straight back, looking slimy and worryingly purple.  He was idly scrolling through something on his phone, every few minutes instinctively moving his hand to tuck his hair behind his ear before making a grumpy face, remembering that he wasn’t supposed to touch it.

He’s cute, Kagiura thought, smiling to himself. He looks so comfortable. So… relaxed.

“He feels safe with you.”

Kagiura’s cheeks warmed. He opened his mouth to break the silence when his phone suddenly starting ringing, the name “Niibashi Juuya” flashing across the screen. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hirano quirk a brow at him.

“Ah, h-hello?” he said, fumbling with his phone for a moment before holding it up to his ear. “Niibashi?”

“You know I’ve sent you like, a dozen texts or so.”

The brunette barely processed the words, his eyes straying to find Hirano gazing at him curiously. He scratched at the back of his neck before pointedly looking away.

“Oh. Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t notice.” he said honestly. “Is everything okay?”

“Is everything-“ Niibashi repeated to himself, sighing. “Yes, everything’s fine. Unless, of course, you’re including that suspiciously long silence on the phone earlier prior to you hanging up on me. Rude, by the way.”

Kagiura eyed his roommate, now laying prone on his bed. He had his phone propped up on his pillow in front of him, watching a video. The shirt he was wearing was huge on him, the neckline wide enough to expose the blonde’s entire collar bone.

He saw Hirano glance over to him. Kagiura quickly darted his eyes away.  

“Hmm?” he voiced, inattentive.

“You know what, I can’t even be mad at you for this. This is my fault.” Niibashi sighed. “You’re with Hirano-senpai right now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah! How did you know?” Kagiura responded brightly, finally tuning into the conversation now that his roommate had been brought up.

“Oh, that one’s easy,” the redhead answered, voice flat. “It’s because whenever you’re with him you totally ignore me.”

Kagiura pouted. “Nii-chan, you know that’s not true. You’re my best friend!”

Niibashi’s face flared red. “Don’t-! Ugh, you know what, never mind.” He laid back on his bed, resigned, idly twirling a piece of his hair around his finger.  

He could practically hear Kagiura’s pout over the phone. “Yeah, yeah. You’re my best friend, too,” he voiced, waving him off.

He smiled then, teasingly adding, “Sorry I’m not pretty enough to steal any of your attention away from your dear Hirano-san.”  

Kagiura pursed his lips at that, taking him literally in a way that only Kagiura could. “You’re being too hard on yourself, Niibashi! You’re plenty pretty!” he voiced out, completely shameless. He didn’t notice his roommate’s eyes quickly darting to him at his exclamation. “Plus, that’s not a totally fair comparison. Hirano-san is gorgeous, after all.”

Hirano made a choking sound at the same moment that Niibashi said, “Didn’t you say he was in the room with you?”

The brunette’s eyes widened as he lowered his phone and looked over at his senpai, who was staring back at him in shock. Hirano’s face was blood red, a stark contrast to the lavender goo covering his hair.

“W-what the hell are you guys talking about?!” Hirano demanded, embarrassed.

“Uhhh…” Kagiura voiced, stalling. He swiftly turned away from Hirano and raised his phone back up to his ear. “Uh… I-I’ll have to call you back later, Niibashi! Bye!”

After hanging up the phone amidst Niibashi’s passionate protests, Kagiura couldn’t bring himself to turn back around. He felt his neck warm. Gosh, that was really embarrassing, wasn’t it?

When his phone rang out again, he hurriedly shut off the ringer, leaving Niibashi’s calls ignored for the time being.

The silence stretched on between them for a solid minute before Hirano’s timer went off.

“I’m just... gonna go wash this out,” he said, sounding stilted and somewhat awkward, before grabbing the towel from his chair and walking over to the door.

Kagiura turned quickly. “Ah! Hirano-san, wait!”

Hirano paused, hand on the doorknob. “What’s up?”

“Umm!” Kagiura crossed his legs and set his phone on his bed, trying to come up with some sort of explanation. When he couldn’t think of anything, he said, “Ah, I’m sorry, Hirano-san. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

The blonde whipped around, gaping at him. “Me?” he asked incredulously. He rubbed his hand down the side of his face, exasperated. “I’m- How are you not embarrassed? How can you just say things like that?”

“W-well,” the brunette stuttered. He tilted his head, observing his roommate thoughtfully. After a beat of tense silence, he said, “I mean, it’s true, isn’t it?”

The blonde’s face burned. “That’s-“

Hirano pursed his lips indignantly. What am I even supposed to say back to that?!

After observing the innocent, questioning look on his kohai’s face for a moment, Hirano deflated. “Sometimes you’re really too much, Kagi-kun,” he said, sighing as he walked a few steps forward to stand in front of the brunette’s bed. With a flustered look on his face, he reached down and patted Kagiura on the head, awkwardly mumbling, “But thanks, I guess. For the compliment.”

When Kagiura beamed back at him, he clicked his tongue. Walking back to the door he said, “I’ll be back in a few minutes.” before leaving.

With Hirano now out of the room, Kagiura quickly grabbed his phone that had been vibrating non-stop. He checked his lock screen. Oof, three missed calls.

When he clicked to accept the current incoming call, Niibashi’s affronted voice blared loudly through the speaker.

“Are you actually joking right now? You’re a shitty friend!”

Kagiura brushed him off, excited. “Hold that thought, Niibashi!” he said, turning to hug his pillow to his chest. “You’ll never guess what just happened. Hirano-san-“

Niibashi’s subsequent shouting, though therapeutic for the redhead, had Kagiura kneeling on his bed, head bowed and face somber as he repeatedly apologized for his antics.  

After his tirade, Niibashi sighed heavily. Though he’d never admit it, he was morbidly curious about what happened following his friend’s slip-up, hence why he had incessantly spam-called the brunette. This weird situation between Kagiura and his senpai was bad for Niibashi’s heart.

“So,” he said, feigning disinterest as he checked his nails. “What did Hirano-senpai say?”

Kagiura perked up when Hirano returned from washing his hair, blow dryer in hand.

He eyed the device curiously as the blonde set it on his desk. “Where’d you get that?”

“Hmm?” Hirano hummed while he ran a brush through his hair, frowning as he fingered his split ends. He glanced at the dryer. “Oh, just from Hanzawa’s roommate. I’m too impatient to let it air-dry and he offered, so,” he said with a shrug.

He sat down at his desk, unplugging his phone charger to replace it with the hair dryer in the outlet. He looked over his shoulder, catching his roommate’s eye. He raised a questioning brow at the brunette.

“Um… yes?”

“Well,” Hirano started, slowly turning in his chair and holding out the hair dryer to him. “I figured you wanted to do it.”

Kagiura’s face instantly lit up. He jumped up from the bed, phone falling from his lap and half-tripping over his school bag in the process.

Hirano laughed, handing him the dryer. “You excited?” he teased.

“Of course!” Kagiura exclaimed, turning the hair dryer over in his hands. “I really want to see what it looks like dry- if it’s any different!”

Hirano chuckled, eyeing his kohai. “You do know how to use a hair dryer, don’t you?”

“Of course, I do,” the brunette mumbled, pouting.

“Mhm. Just make sure you set it to cool.”

As Kagiura fiddled with the heat setting, Hirano suddenly raised up his hand, stilling the brunette.

“Actually, wait a sec. There’s a serum…” Hirano muttered, opening one of his desk drawers and rifling for a moment before producing a small bottle. He popped the cap. “Lemme just-“

“Wait!” Kagiura interrupted loudly, hand raised in an attempt to stop him. The elder looked at him, eyes wide.

Suddenly aware of his own eagerness, Kagiura scratched at the back of his neck before reaching out a hand and asking, “Can I?”

Hirano looked between Kagiura and his open palm with a brow raised, chuckling when the brunette started making impatient grabby hands at him.

“You’re really being a brat today, you know that?” he said, popping the cap back on the bottle before handing it over. At the brunette’s trademark pout, Hirano laughed. He reached up and roughly ruffled his kohai’s hair.

“I just wanna help,” Kagiura whined.

“Yeah, yeah,” Hirano said, rolling his eyes. He eyed the bottle. “Only use a tiny bit. Like, a few drops.”

When Kagiura nodded, the blonde turned back in his chair, facing away from his roommate.

Kagiura squeezed out a few drops of the hair serum, capping the bottle and setting it aside before warming the oil between his hands.

He took a deep breath before he began to gently tousle Hirano’s damp hair, running his hands through the mid-length to the ends. With the strands coated, Kagiura wiped the excess serum off on the damp towel Hirano handed him.

The brunette switched the blow dryer onto the medium setting, careful to triple-check the temperature. He turned the dryer towards Hirano’s hair, taking a moment to be transfixed by how the blonde strands gently billowed from the pressure.

Kagiura began rustling his free hand through Hirano’s hair while he used the hair dryer, trying to focus more on the damp roots than the quickly drying ends.

When the blonde strands felt dry to the touch, Kagiura ran one final hand through Hirano’s hair- half because he wanted to be thorough with his work and half because he just wanted to touch him.

Kagiura switched the hair dryer off and took a deep breath, staring at the top of Hirano’s head. “A-all done!” he chirped.

Hirano slapped his hands on his thighs. “Alright,” he said, running a hand through his bangs to feel the strands. He spun his chair towards Kagiura, stopping his momentum by grabbing the edge of his desk.

“Well,” he said, eyes crinkling into a smile as he cocked his head to the side. “How do I look?”  

Kagiura swallowed heavily. Hirano’s hair honestly looked almost exactly the same as before, though now without the dark roots. But it was… just a little bit lighter.

“That was me.”

He shivered pleasantly. “It looks-“ he began. He reached out instinctively to touch the strands again but stopped short, eyes locking onto Hirano’s. His hand twitched.

“It- You look really good,” he decided on. Kagiura watched as Hirano shifted his eyes away, lightly flushing. It sent a thrill up the brunette’s spine.

He’s so pretty.

Hirano picked at some nonexistent fuzz on his shirt, internally freaking out. He didn’t know where to look at this point. The way Kagiura had been looking at him today…

“Ah, thanks,” he said awkwardly, willing down his blush. He tried for a teasing smile, reaching his hand up to lightly knock Kagiura in the chest. “What makes you like it so much, huh?”

Kagiura, suddenly overwhelmed with the familiar urge to just touch, reached out and caught Hirano’s hand in his as it fell. He stared down at the blonde’s hand, marveling at how much smaller it was than his own. He ran his thumb over the Hirano’s knuckles. “Well,” he said, his voice thick. “That’s because I did it.”

Hirano watched as the brunette held onto his hand, staring at it intently before releasing a deep breath and cradling it against his own chest. He then brought his free hand up, taking a drawn-out moment to tuck Hirano’s bangs behind his ear. Hirano shivered when his roommate’s nails softly scraped over his skin.

Kagiura’s heart was hammering beneath Hirano’s hand. Hirano swallowed heavily. “Because… you did it,” he repeated quietly, solely for the sake of having something to say.

“Because I did it,” Kagiura agreed, eyes meeting his before possessively muttering, “Because it’s mine.”

Hirano’s face erupted in a blush. He stuttered as Kagiura squeezed his hand one more time before letting it drop and pulling his hands away. “And that makes ten.”

Hirano didn’t even want to attempt to interpret the intense look in Kagi-kun’s eyes just now. He’d heard Miyano babble on about “yearning” far too often- and confiscated, and totally not read, too many of his Manga- for him not to have an idea of what it looked like.

He obviously knew Kagi-kun was… had feelings for him. He knew that. But seeing him show it so openly, with both his words and his actions, made Hirano’s heart twinge painfully in his chest. He couldn’t tell if he wanted the brunette to express it more often or never, ever again.

He clutched at the fabric over his heart, willing it to calm down. He could feel Kagiura’s eyes on him and for some reason it made him want to hide. He felt exposed, like Kagi could read his mind.

Not that he was thinking anything weird! He just didn’t want Kagi-kun to worry about his… heart… condition.

Yeah, no.

Hirano sighed; he wasn’t making any sense. He seemed to get that way around Kagi-kun a lot lately.

It was when Kagiura’s hand gently gripped the one that was fisted in Hirano’s shirt that the blonde was jolted out of his thoughts. “Hirano-san?” Kagiura questioned softly.

“Ah,” Hirano murmured, lifting his head. Kagiura was standing right in front of him, leaning down to peer at his face, his hand still covering Hirano's own. He released a deep breath, feeling strangely relieved by his roommate’s presence. His hand twitched. “I-I’m okay.”

Hirano’s heart was hammering so hard he was counting down the seconds until the damn thing burst out of his chest. There’s no way Kagi-kun can’t feel that.

It was at that exact moment that Kagiura grinned at him, almost teasing, and squeezed his hand. “Your heart’s beating really fast, Hirano-san.”

The entire mood of the room shifted, all of the prior tension evaporating.

Kagi-kun just had that kind of effect.

“You-!” Hirano gaped. He knew he was stuttering, and he could feel the blush radiating from his neck. He was so flustered and so confused, but also so not confused, that he couldn’t help but laugh.

He shoved at the brunette with his captured hand, both of them laughing. After a minute, once they’d both caught their breath, Hirano snatched his hand away, much to Kagiura’s distaste if his immediate pout was anything to go by.

“Wipe that look off your face,” Hirano chuckled. “You already got your ten seconds.”

He reached up his hand for the umpteenth time that day, raking his fingers back through Kagiura’s bangs. At the soft, pleased look on his kohai’s face, Hirano’s heart panged.

“Yearning”, huh?

When Hirano walked into the Disciplinary Committee room the following afternoon, he immediately felt eyes on him. He hunched his shoulders, cursing to himself. Miyano…

Once all committee members were seated, Hanzawa began reviewing the final figures from the prior years’ cultural festival. He rattled off terms like “operating profit margin” and “efficiency ratio”, giggling like an absolute maniac as he watched his classmates’ heads spin in confusion.

They were about ten minutes into the review when Sasaki appeared out of nowhere, lazily taking the open seat next to Miyano as the younger blushed. At this point, no one even batted an eye when the third year showed up. It was rarer to see them apart, after all.

When the meeting quickly devolved into Hanzawa mercilessly teasing the treasurer for allowing him to take his job, Hirano sighed. He tore his eyes off of the financial statement on the table in front of him just in time to see Miyano frantically whispering to his boyfriend.  

Miyano murmured something, reaching up a hand to tug on his bangs before blatantly gesturing towards Hirano.

Hirano scowled.

Sasaki quirked a brow and whispered something back that caused his boyfriend’s head to audibly snap towards the blonde sitting across from him, blushing furiously as his hands gripped the edge of the table.

Hirano curled into himself self-consciously at the excited, flushed look on his kohai’s face.

He groaned. This is trouble.

The younger continued to steal very obvious glances at him as he continued his whispered exchange with Sasaki, steadily growing more and more excited until it looked like his face was going to split in half.

Miyano nearly jumped out of his skin when Hirano slammed his hand on the table, glaring at the pair.

“What the hell are you two talking about?” he demanded, irritated.

The younger glanced at his boyfriend a few times and, when Sasaki gave him a nod, he turned to face Hirano directly. He steepled his fingers, looking serious as he said, “Hirano-senpai, I have a question to ask you.”

Hirano groaned. Why can’t anyone ever just get to the damn point?!

Rolling his eyes, he responded with a gruff, “What?”

“Well,” the brunette began. “Your hair’s lighter. It looks nice.”

The blonde stared back at him, emotionless, clearly waiting for the other shoe to drop. “And?”

“A-and, well,” Miyano stuttered. He looked back at Sasaki, who gave him a “you can do it!” gesture. Miyano smiled before continuing, feeling encouraged. He took a deep breath. “Well, I was just wondering if maybe someone helped you do your hair.”

Hirano crossed his arms. He knew this was coming. He shook his head. Miyano’s BL brain was out of control.

“Well,” Hirano began. “If someone helped me, that’d be between me and them, wouldn’t it?”

Miyano blinked back at him, almost in disbelief. He didn’t deny it! His smile grew as he exchanged a look with Sasaki. “Of course! Yes, it absolutely would be. H-however… if, for instance,” He gestured vaguely with his hand, feigning nonchalance. “I don’t know, let’s say your roommate helped you.”

Aaaaaand, there it is.

“Well, that’d be a pretty… intimate situation, don’t you think?” Miyano finished with a raised brow.

Hirano pursed his lips. He definitely wouldn’t describe the night as anything close to intimate. Kagi-kun just helped him out.

Sure, there had been a fair amount of touching involved, but…

“Your heart’s beating really fast.”

Hirano’s brows suddenly knit together, considering. It’s not really like that, is it? I didn’t ask Kagi-kun to do something like… like, weird, did I?  

I mean, we are close, after all, Hirano thought. It’s not weird to ask someone to help dye your hair, right? That’s a totally normal, roommate thing to do, right?

“What exactly is happening?” Sasaki whispered to his boyfriend as they both observed what looked like every one of Hirano’s synapses firing at once, a painfully thoughtful look on his face.

Miyano leaned towards his boyfriend, excitedly murmuring, “In BL, this is what we call a moment of ‘feelings realization’.”

Well, that certainly snapped Hirano out of his thoughts.

“It isn’t anything like that! We just-” Hirano objected fervently, realizing with mounting horror that he had absolutely no explanation.  

Miyano was watching him with unrestrained glee while Sasaki looked almost smug at Hirano’s outburst, like he knew something.  

“You just…?” Sasaki encouraged teasingly.

He couldn’t decide which one of them he hated more in that moment.

Miyano was positively giddy as he unhelpfully pointed out, “Hirano-senpai, you’re blushing!”

Hirano ducked his head away. “I am not!” he argued defensively as the pair resumed whispering to each other. Hirano tuned them out, thoughts racing.

“It looks- you look really good.”

The blonde’s flush darkened. He scowled, muttering to himself, “Nothing even happened…”

“What makes you like it so much, huh?”

Kagi-kun did seem to really like it…

“Well, that’s because I did it.”

Hirano’s skin tingled where Kagiura had gently raked his nails.

“Because it’s mine.”

He shuddered, erupting in a blush that covered his neck and stained his chest.

The blonde shook his head, trying to clear the very… physical memories from his mind. As he rubbed the goosebumps from his arms, a thought occurred to him.

It’s too quiet.

His head snapped up to find Sasaki and Miyano both watching him silently. The brunette had a hand slapped over his mouth, as if in disbelief. He looked absolutely thrilled.

Hirano quickly darted his eyes away from them, but now that he knew they were watching him, he couldn’t help but feel very exposed.

Miyano knew.

Hirano couldn’t tell you exactly what his kohai knew, but he definitely knew… something.

The blonde cursed under his breath as he quickly stood and shoved his stuff in his bag before exiting the room.

I need to… think about this.

“Hirano-senpai, Hirano-senpai!” Miyano called after him eagerly.

“What?!” he hissed, shoulders up to his ears, his cheeks burning as he continued down the hall.

The brunette darted in front of him, effectively cutting him off. He looked way too earnest as he bent into a formal bow and said, “Please introduce me to your roommate!”

“It’s mine.”

Hirano gaped at him, affronted. “Absolutely not!” he seethed.

Miyano pouted, decidedly way less cutely than Kagi-kun, whining, “Why noooot?”

He shook his head, scratching at his red neck. “W-well, because he’s…”

Miyano threw his hands up. “Everyone else has gotten to meet him! Why not me?

The blonde just stood there, hand gripping his nape as he just got redder and redder, before pointedly turning away.

Miyano had never seen his senpai this flustered before. Hell, he didn’t even know Hirano could get like this! “Because he’s what?” the younger asked excitedly, practically bouncing in his shoes.

“It’s mine.”

The declaration kept echoing in his head. There was definitely a lot to unpack there.

There were implications and… and feelings.

His feelings.

“It’s mine.”

“Because he’s what, Hirano-senpai?”

You’re mine.

Hirano flushed, shouting out, “Because he’s mi-!” before immediately cutting himself off, covering his mouth with his hand.

Miyano’s jaw hit the floor and Hirano looked at anything but him, face burning.

Hirano was painfully aware that they both knew what he was about to say.

“He’s… yours?” the younger asked breathlessly, brows raised in shock. He seriously felt like he was going to faint right now. Sasaki was going to lose his mind when he told him about this.  

Hirano whipped back around to face him. “No! O-of course not!” he denied fervently. At Miyano’s dubious look, he side-stepped his kohai and continued down the hall, head ducked.

Miyano dutifully followed him for a few minutes, excitedly babbling about some dumb BL he read that supposedly had “like an exact, cut-and-paste copy” of their previous conversation.

The blonde tried to tune him out, not wanting to think of anyone, especially Kagi-kun, in that way.

“And then, after his passionate declaration, the uke was forced to confess what he’d said to his seme because the person he told was blackmailing him!” he gushed, positively swooning. “Ahhh, it was so romantic!”

Miyano then looked at him thoughtfully, tapping a finger on his lips. “Hmm. Maybe something like that would help you two along.”

Hirano bristled, suddenly feeling threatened by Miyano of all people. He may not know his semes from his ukes, much to Miyano’s distaste, but he knew a threat when he heard one. “You wouldn’t,” he said slowly, trying and failing to sound confident.  

But Miyano only raised a brow at him as if to say, “you want to find out?” before smiling and waving goodbye as he took off down the hallway, phone in hand.

While studying at their desks later that night, they were both startled when Kagiura’s phone pinged, indicating a LINE notification.

The brunette glanced at the notification on his phone and raised his brow. “Hey, Hirano-san?” he voiced.

Hirano hmmed without looking up from the worksheet he was currently going through. Only four more questions.

“Miyano-kun is your kohai in the Disciplinary Committee, right?” he asked.

Hirano squinted suspiciously at his worksheet. This can’t be good. “Yeah, he is. Why?”

“Ah, he just sent me a request on LINE, so I wanted to be sure.”

The blonde whipped his head around at that. “Why would he do that?”

Kagiura shrugged noncommittally. “I dunno. Every time I see him, he’s just staring at me. It’s a little creepy,” he laughed. “But you seem to like him, and I trust your judgement, so.”

Hirano watched as Kagiura tapped at his phone screen. He felt unnerved. What the hell could Miyano want to talk to Kagi-kun about? They don’t even know each other!

“Wait!” Hirano suddenly shouted, holding out his hand as if to physically stop Kagiura as a terrifying thought crossed his mind. He knew exactly what Miyano wanted to talk to Kagi-kun about.

His kohai turned in his chair, eyeing him curiously. “What’s wrong?” he asked, genuinely confused.

Hirano glared weakly at the phone in Kagiura’s hand. “Um. Don’t accept the request.” He felt really uncomfortable telling Kagi-kun what to do, and from the startled look on his roommate’s face, it seems that the brunette thought it was off as well. Hirano wrung his hands in his lap, looking away before quietly urging, “Please.”  

At Hirano’s uncharacteristically small voice, and even more uncharacteristic use of the word “please”, Kagiura felt urged to listen. He clicked his phone screen off and set the device on his desk. Turning back to his senpai, he said, “Okay, sure. But why? Isn’t he like, your favorite underclassman?”

Hirano crossed his arms, grumbling, “You’re my favorite underclassman.”

Kagiura smiled fondly at him. He shook his head and got back to the topic at hand. Hirano-san sure is distracting. “I’m definitely putting that on my university applications,” he said with a smile before cocking his head. “But why shouldn’t I accept it? He sounds fun from the stories you tell.”

Hirano groaned, he thought complimenting Kagi-kun would be enough to pull his thoughts away from Miyano, but he should’ve expected this. Kagi-kun is the most determined person he’s ever met, after all.

“Well, I- um…” Hirano scratched nervously at his neck. He really had to tell him, didn’t he? Surely Miyano sent the LINE request to Kagi-kun so that he could run his mouth about Hirano’s slip-up earlier, making good on his threat. Hirano was half tempted to save himself the embarrassment of a conversation and just let Miyano tell Kagi-kun himself. He sighed, really wishing he had some of Kagi’s blind determination right about now.

He started bouncing his leg anxiously, trying to rid himself of his nerves. What would Kagi-kun do? he asked himself before sighing.

He would definitely tell me.

He thought of how admirable Kagi-kun was when he’d confessed to him. How he outright told him his feelings and allowed for zero misinterpretation on Hirano’s part. He had been so… bold. It was so like Kagi-kun to dive headfirst into something, even something as scary as rejection.

“I’m saying that I’m in love with you. In the romantic sense.”

Well, he reasoned to himself, this is way lower stakes than a confession. I’d kind of be a coward if I wussed out on it now, wouldn’t I?

He took a shaky breath, steeling himself.

“Um, Kagi-kun?” he asked, almost shrinking back at how incredibly small his voice sounded. It must’ve caught Kagiura’s attention too, the brunette locking eyes with his concernedly. 

Hirano looked at anything but his kohai, he could feel the tips of his ears getting hot. How am I supposed to just say this!?

“I, uh,” he said, swallowing thickly. He wrung his hands, pointedly looking away. “Miyano sent you the request ‘cause he wants to tell you something I said about you earlier.”

Kagiura raised a brow at him. Hirano was acting really nervous. “Oh? About… me?” he asked, trying not to seem too interested.

“Yeah,” Hirano’s gaze briefly flickered to his roommate, Kagiura looked curious, but wasn’t pressuring him. Hell, Kagi-kun didn’t even ask what he’d said. He pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, so… basically, uh...”

Hirano was almost nauseous from how awkward he felt right now. He knew he needed to tell him. He absolutely had to because if he didn’t, then Miyano would. And that damn fanboy would definitely exaggerate what he said, or how he said it, or imply it meant more than it did.

Kagiura broke him out of his thoughts when he levelled Hirano with a small, sympathetic smile. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, Hirano-san. I’ll just deny the LINE request, it’s no big deal.”

Hirano blinked back at him, surprised.

And there it was. Without even knowing the context of the situation, Kagi-kun gave Hirano exactly what he needed to calm down. He didn’t even realize he’d been holding his breath until he released it. He slumped in his chair.

“Dammit,” Hirano cursed to himself, looking to his roommate. Kagi-kun looked so earnest as he tapped at his phone. He held it up to Hirano, the screen clearly showing “request denied”.

“All done,” he said proudly, as if victorious, and flashed the blonde a grin.

Hirano found himself frowning back at him. Why do I feel guilty?

“You-” He sighed again. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Kagiura peered at him, a considering look on his face, as if he was debating what he should say.

“You looked really uncomfortable, Hirano-san. And that’s kind of rare for you. I thought this would help,” he said, briefly waving his phone. “And if I’m able to help you, I’ll do it every time.”

The brunette smiled then, meeting Hirano’s eyes once more. “No matter how curious I might be,” he added with a shaky laugh.

Hirano’s heart clenched painfully in his chest at the sound. Kagi-kun was giving him an out, solely to make him comfortable. He should just accept it with as much grace as he could muster and change the subject.

But Kagi-kun obviously wanted to know. And, really, Hirano should tell him, right? He was shouting about the guy in the middle of a hallway, after all. It was bound to get back to him somehow.

He glanced up to find Kagiura with a peculiar look on his face that made Hirano uneasy. He was blushing, but not in that cute, pleased way he usually did. He almost looked… shameful.

He looked kind of upset.

Wait, he knows I wasn’t like, shit-talking him, right?

Right?

“Kagi-kun,” he blurted, abruptly standing from his chair. “It wasn’t like, anything bad!” he assured.

Kagiura looked like a deer caught in the headlights. “Oh. I’m, uh-,” he stuttered. Hirano-san looked so earnest. He cleared his throat. “I’m glad.” It’s scary when Hirano-san reads my mind like that.

Hirano groaned. That only seemed to make Kagi-kun look even more unsure.

The blonde huffed a few times, running his hands up and down the sides of his face, before giving Kagiura a pointed look.

“Okay,” Hirano said resolutely, clapping his hands together as if to pump himself up. He took one look at Kagiura’s curious expression, his head tilted cutely, and groaned again.

Hirano quickly turned away from his kohai and tried again. “Okay,” he repeated, releasing a deep breath. He wrung his hands in front of him. “So… uh, Miyano has this like, super fucking weird obsession with our dorm life.” He scoffed. “He’s like, a huge BL fanboy so he sees it in everything.”

The blonde rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. This still feels impossible, even if I can’t see his face.

I wonder what face he’s making right now.

“But, anyways, he constantly asks me about our dorm life, for weird reasons, and I always refuse to tell him,” he explained, his nerves slowly settling as he told the story. “And other times, when he’s feeling really bold, he’ll demand to meet you. I have no idea what he thinks he’ll gain from it, but I’m sure it’s fucking weird so I always say no.”

He didn’t know if Kagiura’s silence was a good thing or not, but it was helping him stay focused. “So, today, he asked to meet you again, and I said no.” He rolled his eyes then. “And then he started throwing a damn fit. He was all, ‘why not? Why can’t I?’” he recited in an exaggerated impression of Miyano.

“A-And then,” Hirano stuttered out, losing steam. He could feel the back of his neck warming. “Then, when he asked why I said no, I kind of…” he trailed off, making a motion with his hand as if to pull the right words out of thin air. He huffed, “I started saying ‘because he’s’ and got, uh… distracted. And so, um, I didn’t get to finish what I was going to say.”

Hirano was practically trembling as he continued, his arms wrapping tightly around himself. “And because I only said, ‘because he’s’, Miyano was all, ‘because he’s what?’. And-and I said, well…”

Fuck, Hirano cursed to himself. This is fucking impossible!

He didn’t even realize he had a hand tightly fisted in his hair, anxiously yanking on the blonde strands, until he felt Kagiura’s hand gently laying over his own.

Hirano started, surprised that his roommate was suddenly standing directly behind him. When the hell did he get up? Slowly, Kagiura eased Hirano’s hand out of his hair, holding it for only a moment before releasing it. Hirano’s hand dropped limply to his side as his heart pounded in his chest.

He could hear the fake pout in Kagi-kun’s voice as he softly teased, “I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into that hair. Don’t go pulling it all out, Hirano-san.”

Hirano released a breath.

And there it was again.

The earnest attempt to soothe his nerves yet again had Hirano flushing. His back felt comfortably warm from Kagiura’s close proximity and his hand tingled where the brunette had touched it.

He knew Kagi-kun was just trying to calm him down, but he felt the inane urge to come clean. Even though he didn’t need to worry about Miyano opening his degenerate mouth about it anymore, for some reason he couldn’t place, he felt like he had to say it. Like he owed it to Kagi-kun.

Maybe like he wanted him to know.

Hirano turned around slowly, nerves causing him to cross his arm protectively in front of him, gripping his elbow. He released a deep breath and looked up at Kagi-kun.

Kagiura’s eyes were soft, his expression open. He definitely looked a little concerned, his brows knitted slightly in worry as he murmured, “Hirano-san, you’re shaking.”

“I, uh,” Hirano stuttered out as he lowered his eyes, rooted to the spot. Kagiura reached out towards him as if to pry the blonde’s hand from his arm, but stilled the action at the last moment.

In what Hirano would later consider an instance of madness, he frantically reached his own hand out and grabbed Kagiura’s mid-fall.

Hirano suddenly realized that he was holding Kagi-kun’s hand, something he had never initiated before, as he stared his roommate in the face.

Kagiura immediately flushed scarlet. He blinked back owlishly at Hirano, his mouth opening and closing in shock. “Oh,” he breathed, bringing his other hand up to tightly grip the fabric of his shirt over his heart, desperately willing it to slow down.

Maybe it was the fact that Kagi-kun now looked just as nervous as he felt, or maybe it was because the brunette’s hand was big and warm and slightly sweaty in his own. Or maybe some of Kagi’s boundless courage was bleeding into him.

Hirano cleared his throat roughly, having to make the conscious decision to ignore his now feverish blush, the nauseating flutter in his stomach, and Kagi-kun’s stupid, warm fucking hand in his. Trying to go for nonchalance, or confidence, or courage, he continued where he’d left off earlier. “Miyano kept asking me ‘because he’s what?’ over and over again and-“ He spared a quick glance at Kagiura’s face, unsurprised to find him blushing.

Kagi was clutching at his heart as if it was about to burst right out of his chest. His body was tense. He was definitely listening to every word Hirano said intently.

Hirano sighed, embarrassed and somewhat guilty. “And all I could think about was how you had said, uh- how you’d called it yours.” He caught Kagiura’s eye, and, noticing his roommate’s pinched brows and the charming little tilt to his head, he elaborated. “My hair, I mean. I asked why you liked it so much and you said it was- you said it was because it was yours. You said, ‘it’s mine’.

“And so, when Miyano asked, ‘because he’s what?’, all I could think about was you saying, ‘it’s mine’ and so I, uh,” he trailed off awkwardly. He was horribly embarrassed, but he squeezed Kagiura’s hand in his anyways, admitting, “And so I said- I said, ‘because he’s mine’.”

“Oh,” Kagiura said again, struck breathless. The brunette swallowed heavily. “That’s- that’s, ah...”

Don’t get your hopes up. Don’t get your hopes up. Don’t get your hopes up.

Kagiura cleared his throat, wide-eyed, hand still clutching at his chest. “And, uh, what did Miyano-kun say?” he asked quietly, a slight tremble to his voice.

Hirano regarded him briefly. Kagiura was flushed red down to his chest, Hirano could feel the brunette’s hammering pulse through the hand he held in his own.

Taking a deep breath, Hirano pointedly looked away from his kohai as he said, “He- well, he basically threatened to tell you what I said.”

A tense moment passed.

Hirano scowled then, suddenly filled with the righteous indignation that Miyano, of all people, threatened him! And to his face, at that!

He squeezed Kagiura’s hand in his tightly, and, spurred on by his memory of the conversation, started to rant. “I mean, can you even believe that!? Miyano- fucking Miyano- of all people, threatening me?” he shouted, tugging on Kagiura’s hand wildly in his tirade. “I should beat his ass, that tiny bastard!”

Fuming, Hirano continued ranting all about Miyano, which turned into ranting about Sasaki, which turned into him ranting about roughly every person who’d even mildly irritated him so far this week- Kagiura’s big, stupid hand tightly clenched in his own the entire time.

“And then, this fucking first year- he had the gall to whine about me to Hanzawa because I confiscated his magazine!” He turned wild eyes to his roommate for the first time since he’d crossed over the line into hysteria. “Kagi-kun, it was fucking porn! Like, straight-up, actual porn!”

It was dead silent for a moment.

Kagiura had moved his hand from clutching at his heart and now held it over his mouth, which was wobbling in that stupid way that meant he was trying not to laugh.

Hirano scowled at him, suddenly embarrassed. “What the hell is so funny, huh?” he asked, tugging on the brunette’s hand while shoving at his opposite shoulder.

The younger pitched forwards from the action, shoulders shaking. He stayed doubled over for a moment taking deep, shaky breaths before casting shining eyes up to his roommate.

The blonde knew Kagi-kun was gonna say something stupid- something teasing- from the mirthful look in his eyes.

“Hirano-san,” Kagiura started, his tone too light. “You have a really dirty mouth.”

Hirano scowled, his face flaming, before turning on his heel in an attempt of stalking towards the door. Kagiura took advantage of their linked hands and playfully pulled Hirano back towards him, causing the blonde to unplayfully yank back- hard- and pull Kagiura to his knees.

Hirano was wide-eyed as he sputtered, “Ah, I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-“

Kagiura grinned at him, eyes full of mirth. He made the conscious decision that he might not live through doing this but reasoned that seeing Hirano-san that red was totally worth it.

He starred Hirano in the face as he used an unnecessary amount of his strength to yank his senpai towards him.

Hirano stumbled forwards, barely catching himself from falling with a hand on Kagiura’s shoulder.

He turned his eyes to Kagi’s face, almost in disbelief. What the hell…?

Kagi-kun pulled him again- lighter this time, almost teasing- and Hirano snapped.

Hirano tugged futilely. “Get-!” he ground out. “Off!”

Kagiura just laughed.

As they played tug-of-war with their linked hands- Kagiura still kneeling on the floor, laughing with an iron grip and Hirano red in the face, feeling strangely flustered- Hirano wrapped his free hand around Kagi’s hand that was clutching his and tried to pry Kagiura’s fingers off of his.

“What the-?!” Hirano panted as he barely managed to wedge a single finger underneath Kagi-kun’s. He was red in the face and winded as he frantically asked, “Why the hell are your fingers so damn strong?!”

Kagiura laughed brightly at the comment, teasingly tugging on Hirano’s hand again as he asked, “Are my fingers strong, or are yours weak?”

The indignant look on Hirano’s face at that caused Kagiura to burst into laughter.

“Why- are- you-“ Hirano gasped as he unsuccessfully tried to yank his hand free. “-doing this?!”

Kagiura started slightly. Why was he doing this?

“Well, Hirano-san,” Kagiura started, licking his lips before gazing up at Hirano. He was smiling, but it was intense. It was the kind of arrogant smirk you’d only find on Kagi-kun’s face when he was sinking a shot in basketball, his eyes shining in challenge. “That’s because I’m stronger than you.”

Hirano swallowed thickly. He loved this smirk on Kagi-kun, he really did. The brunette wasn’t this confident about much, which was unfortunate because he was great. But he was this way about basketball and, apparently, teasing Hirano into a flustered mess.

Stuttering, Hirano said, almost whining, “Kagi-kun, let go!”

Weighing his options between fight or flight, Hirano made the executive decision that Kagi-kun was indeed stronger than him, and that he was going to lose this no matter what.

And with that in mind, Hirano switched tactics, dug his heels into the carpet, and made to dart out of the room.

Hanzawa was well used to Hirano and Kagiura’s antics in their dorm. They could get loud when they were together.

Sometimes very loud.

Hanzawa didn’t usually mind this so long as it wasn’t late at night or too early in the morning and, of course, if he didn’t receive any noise complaints about the pair.

But this? This was far too much.

He pounded on their door amidst the loud bangs and shouts echoing through the hallway from their room. He knew they weren’t, but to anyone that didn’t know them, it really did sound like they were beating the shit out of each other.

“Hirano!” he called loudly, still knocking on the door.

He saw a pair of first years peering at him concernedly from behind a corner. He turned to them, tried for his most placating smile, and said, “They’re just goofing around! Nothing to be worried about!” Then he lowered his voice, menacingly muttering to himself, “The only ones who should be worried are them.”

He was debating whether he should use his master key to unlock their door himself when he heard a distinct shout of “Let go!” come from the room, making his decision for him.

Hanzawa whipped the key out of his pocket, jammed it into the lock, and turned the knob while pushing on the door.

The sight that met him was nothing he ever could’ve anticipated.

“Crab-kun, nooo,” Kagiura pleaded, laughing hysterically, his face flushed as he put all of his weight into tugging on Hirano’s arm, making the other bodily drag him across the floor.

“Get off of me!” Hirano shouted weakly, face burning.

The blonde had a foot perched on Kagiura’s shoulder, desperately shoving at him, while Kagiura was laying on his back, acting as dead weight and occasionally tugging on Hirano’s hand to see if it’d make the blonde stumble.

Kagiura’s laughter died instantly when he saw Hanzawa watching them from the doorway.

The brunette let Hirano’s hand go as if it were burning him and clumsily stood up.

Hirano instantly whirled on him. “Just what the fuck are you thinking?!” he shouted at his roommate indignantly. He opened and closed his hand a few times, urging the feeling back into it.

He pulled back his arm, as if about to punch Kagiura in the shoulder, when Hanzawa softly spoke.

“Do you two think you’re the only people living in these dorms?”

Both boys flinched as if they’d been struck.

Hirano turned towards his classmate. “Ah, Hanzawa, we were just-“ he started, stopping short at the suspicious look on Hanzawa’s face. He looked like he was in physical pain. “W-what?”

Hanzawa’s narrowed eyes flickered between the two a few times before stopping pointedly on Hirano, who visibly shrank back.

He cleared his throat. “Hirano, a word?” he asked too kindly, still looking between the two of them as he motioned for the blonde to follow him into the hallway.

As Hirano walked stoically out of the room, he turned on Kagiura as he passed and whispered, eyes alight in challenge, “I’m gonna get you back for that,” and flashed Kagiura a feral grin.  

The door had been closed for barely a second before Kagiura dove to grab his phone from his desk. In a rush, he mashed his finger on the call button before shoving the device against his ear.

The line rang twice before an answering click sounded.

“Hello?” a dull voice asked.

Kagiura took a deep breath, his skin tingling in excitement.

“Niibashi, you’ll never guess what just happened. Hirano-san just-“