SLEEPING AT LAST | bajifuyu

twenty-one

"Hey, tell me about the people you liked."

Chifuyu immediately spits the water to his face, followed by apologies and a towel in an attempt to clean his face. Baji watches the blond panic with red cherry cheeks, stifling his laugh at his reaction.

"Fucking bastard, why would you even say that?" Chifuyu asked, handing him his handkerchief.

 He took it from his hands, muttering thanks before wiping his wet Tokyo Manji uniform. Onyx eyes would glance from the handkerchief to the blond in front of him, observing Chifuyu under the city night lights.

"Why can't I? Is there something wrong with asking who you liked before?" scoffing beside Chifuyu, "I had a couple of experiences about that field, you know?"

As if he has something to brag about, Baji anticipates some reaction from the latter. But, all he got was a scoff and a disinterest hum.

"Baji Keisuke, first division captain of Tokyo Manji, is a love expert," dramatically putting out his hands in a pose, "Amazing."

"Stop playing with me, man!" he smacks Chifuyu in the head, "Hurt my pride more, and you'll regret it."

"I had them too."

Sitting beside Chifuyu, his ears perked up about what he said. The hustle traffic, pedestrian, and general nightlife noises of Tokyo went buzzing in his brain. Staticy already as he tried focusing his attention on what Chifuyu would say. Baji admits that he may look too invested in the blond's past lovers. Well, of course, he is.

"I'm not a lame-ass single, you know," the blond scratch his cheeks, flushed red about sharing his past relationships.

Raising an eyebrow at his friend, "Is my Fuyu more of a love expert than I am?"

"I swear to fucking God, Baji, I will hurt you," Chifuyu whispers, lowering his head—a habit that he found cute, "But, yes. I had a couple of exes."

"Ooh, Fuyu as a shojo main-"

"Why did I even decided to deal with this dumbass?"

Baji continued his teasing while Chifuyu completely turns his back on him—less of the cold and more to the black-haired boy's sudden statement, flushing red.

"Okay, I think this is it for the night-"

"No way, dude," clamping down on Chifuyu's shoulder, "Why are you leaving?"

Chifuyu pouts, contemplating his answer, "You're still insisting?"

"Yes, I am."

The night passed into dawn, breaking away from the darkness that looms, yet the chilly air still lingers, hazy in their vision. Two boys are yet to reach their slumber, caught up in their stories of wilted romance, laughing at each other's dumb decisions.

"Maybe, I had enough of being an outcast because of my night terrors. So, adding another stuff would be too much," kicking the pebble in front of him, "I am careful of people I admire. I am and will always be. That's why I only had three lovers in the past."

"God, your tastes are so shameful," clenching his fist, aching to punch people who did Chifuyu wrong.

"Be ashamed of yourself, then," handing him the coffee they got earlier, "I think you should include yourself in that bunch, Baji-san."

"What the actual fuck?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Laughing at his perplexed expression, "My past relationships were nothing but completely awful. They always thought that they could cure my night terrors. Love will prevail, I guess?"

Baji's mind wandered about the extent of Chifuyu's past relationships are as he turned his eyes to see the fading stars. He isn't one to criticize someone immediately, but he couldn't keep feeling terrible for the things the boy must have experienced. He has his fair share of heartbreaks and troubles from the most swallow reason to Shinichiro's death. Some of them were dreadful enough to keep him away from a peaceful night, but he ponders about what Chifuyu had been through and how people perceive his relationship with him.

"Did you blame yourself?"

Chifuyu blinks at him, "Huh?"

"Every night, did you blame yourself?"

Realizing his question, he noticed how a smile graces his lips and saw those mellow eyes once again, "Of course, I did. Who wouldn't when it feels like it's your fault for being like this?"

Baji thought it's stupid—beyond a level of stupidity, he will never reach—for Chifuyu's exes to think of that logic. It isn't always the case where love can heal everything, caught up in rainbows and sparkles, in a rose-colored lens. In this instance, it isn't and will never be in Chifuyu's case.

"How about the people you liked, Baji-san?"

It was a question that he didn't saw coming. It wasn't a direct question regarding his feelings or anything between them, but he knew it was. Baji saw the glint under his aquamarine eyes as if the blond had read him enough to see through his thick skin.

"I know it's obvious," a hurt expression flash Chifuyu's face, "But, I wanted to hear it from you. I can't keep hanging onto something I am not sure of."

"Any answer is enough already," his smile pulled strings in Baji's chest, a priced jewel under the sun's light, "Then, I'll move on with my feelings for you-"

"Let's go the sea, Fuyu," he rests his head on Chifuyu's shoulder, intertwining their hands, "In the sea, where we can see the sunrise and sunsets. The first thing I wake up to in the morning to the last thing I see in the night. I want you to be there with me."

Droplets of water fell in their entwined hands, and his eyes followed them to see the boy with the bluest eyes he's ever seen. Chifuyu is captivating past behind his tears and icy skin.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, I am," Baji smiles, wiping his tears, "If it's you, Matsuno Chifuyu, then there's nothing more I am sure of."

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cry with me ;-;