Snap • Hananene

firecracker - [2]

— nene -

Nene sat in Aoi's car, parked outside the Minamotos' house. They were hosting the party this year. Officially, it was Kou who had planned it, but everybody knew that his older brother, Teru; and his boyfriend, Mitsuba had done most of it.

"I'm so nervous, Aoi!" Nene buried her head in her hands. "I can't believe Amane's going to be there. I can't believe I'm going to confess! What if I screw it all up? What if I ruin everything?"

"The only thing you're ruining is your makeup," Aoi said, taking my wrists and guiding my hands back to my sides. "You look absolutely gorgeous, Nene-chan. And I know you can do it! If he says no, that's his loss! You'll find an even better man. Perhaps that Minamoto boy~"

"K-Kou?!" Nene blushed. She know she had once thought the same of Amane, but Nene was certain she only thought of Kou as a close friend. Besides, "He has a—"

Aoi laughed. "No, no, not him! The other one! Teru, the boy you had a crush on in middle school!"

Nene sank back into her seat in relief as Aoi continued laughing.

"No, I'm certain Amane is the one for me. I'll give it my all tonight!"

Aoi took both Nene's hands. "That's my girl! Now let's get out of here, it's selfish to keep all this beauty to ourselves~!"

Nene giggled and let Aoi take her to the front door. She took a deep breath, then twisted the doorknob...

— amane -

Amane and Tsukasa had arrived at the Minamoto's long before the party started to help set it up. Mitsuba and Teru were very nit-picky about what went where and what had to be put away and hidden in the attic.

"A vase?" Amane watched incredulously as Teru carried a cheap-looking flowered vase into the attic along with the other items. "It's just a party, Teru."

"You have," Teru said quietly, slowly shaking his head. "No idea what teenagers are capable of."

Just smile and nod, smile and nod...

When the sky got dark, people began to arrive. Yashiro wasn't among them. Amane spent most of this pre-Yashiro time in the bathroom, in front of the mirror. There was already a sheen of sweat on his face that wouldn't go away no matter how much he wiped at it. Was it the people making him this nervous? Or was it the anticipation?

tap, tap.

"Amane?" It was Tsukasa. "You're not peeing, are you?"

"Guess the secret's out."

Tsukasa opened the door with a tiny smile on his face. "So how's the party so far?"

"Oh, you know, just wonderful. I'm really enjoying myself here in this bathroom."

"Sure seems like it!"

Tsukasa crossed his arms and looked at something Amane couldn't see. "For real though, are you okay? You look awful. I didn't mean to pressure you into doing something you didn't want to do, but I was so sick of seeing you and Nene tip-toe around each other. It's obvious at least one of you is in love."

"L-Love?" Amane stammered. "I wouldn't go that far—"

Tsukasa only laughed. "There's no point denying it. Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is: You won't get anything done by hiding your feelings. You'll just get stuck in this loop where keeping this secret becomes the only thing you know."

"And suddenly you're the expert on romance?"

"Personally, I think you're lucky to get advice from somebody who doesn't feel romantic attraction! My mind's not all clouded by all the stupid things that come with it." Tsukasa laughed again and Amane smiled along with him.

"You're right, I'm being absurd. It's just a confession. We're such good friends, I doubt anything would change too much afterward." And if she didn't like him back, he could use it as a stepping-stone to move on from Yashiro. Even though he didn't see that happening too soon.

"Then get back out there! The party started about 10 minutes ago, I bet Nene'll be here soon with that Aoi girl."

Amane rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess so. Thanks, Tsu."

"Anything for my brother!"

(694 words)

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sorry for short part lol. the third part will hopefully be the last and then I can move on to writing my two pirate AUs ABAHAHAHAH

i love non-abusive Tsukasa dynamics but I also really like writing unstable tsukasa, who will proooobably show up in the pirate AU. Both of them.