Love as rich as chocolate ~TodoBaku~

Chapter 17: simple gestures

Akio Todoroki

To tell a long story short, the next hour or so was a very pleasant experience. Hiro and I passed the time by drinking way too much coffee and talking about embarrassing childhood memories. I told him about the time I fell in a lake while fishing with dad, which he got a good laugh out of, but I returned the favour after he mentioned a time when he jumped off the roof of his uncle's house in Canada into a massive snow pile one winter.

It seemed like he had mixed emotions about having lived abroad. It's always a fond story about when he was there, but he always falters when he's about to mention why. I figure it's something unpleasant, so it's best if he tells me if and when he's comfortable, but I can't help the itching curiosity in my mind that is desperate to probe him further.

His time in Canada had certainly helped with one thing though - cold resistance. I hadn't the foresight to predict a bitter wind as we walked away from the shop and towards my house, teeth borderline chattering in the brisk air. Hiro, however, marched proudly onward as if it were a warm summer day, and before long he shot me a strange look, as if he hadn't quite figured out why I was so cold.

Naturally, that was because he hadn't figured out why I was so cold

"Wh-I'm cold because it's cold!"

"What? You think this is cold? This is a mild afternoon!"

"You must be some sort of freak if you think this is mild! Ugh, I feel like my bones have frostbite! Also, you have a hoodie on!

"Well, I see a simple solution here then!" he said, before promptly whipping his jacket off and holding it out for me to take. It was so unnecessary, so incredibly chivalrous and adorable that I of course had to accept it. I know I made a bit of a show whining about it, but I'd never actually expected him to offer, more content with a little tease about it, if anything just making conversation. But I mean, look, if I get a nice warm hoodie to wear for a while out of it, then who am I to bitch?

After putting on the (enviously fluffy) hoodie, I found myself drifting ever closer to Hiro. I don't know whether it was the weird sense of familiarity I already had with him, my blossoming feelings, or perhaps something as simple as me wearing his hoodie, but I found myself feeling incredibly happy when he was around. It wasn't an easy thing to describe, similar yet incredibly different to what I felt for Kei and Ryo. What I felt for them was an affection, a passionate liking to them. What I felt for Hiro...it was desire. Want. Need. It was as if I lusted for his attention, craved every second I could get from him...and yet none of it felt like a waste. I didn't have the lingering doubt about whether he was into me, because...well, I just didn't! Perhaps he'd short-circuited me so much I hadn't even had chance to consider that, but it just hadn't come to mind, even once.

It didn't even click with me that we were outside my house until we suddenly stopped walking, getting a little deja vu from last night, except it was me that overshot this time. I opened the door and held it wide for Hiro, bowing dramatically and gesturing him in. He awkwardly slid off his shoes and smiled at the floor, eager to look around yet polite enough not to just go. I rolled my eyes to myself and walked into the living room, an absent finger waving him behind me. I felt him stutter in his walk behind me, and turned immediately to face him.

"Uhhh...you ok?"

"Yeah...yeah, I'm sorry, I just...haven't done anything like this in years..."

"What, you mean like going to...someone else's house?"

Whoops, nearly friend-zoned myself there...

"Yeah...I didn't really have any friends overseas, so it's been...at least 2 years, probably more, since I've been in a non-family member's house."

"Ok, well...its a house, there's nothing special or surprising you're gonna find here, so just treat it like your own. As long as you aren't a slob that is, in which case, be afraid" I said with a faux-sinister smirk, eliciting a nervous chuckle from him. After he'd seen the wholly unremarkable living room, I took him upstairs to see my room, doing mental cartwheels to try and remember if I'd left any errant clothing lying around.

Luckily, I hadn't, and he seemed surprisingly impressed with the room, commenting on how big it was. Considering it...really wasn't that remarkable, it made me think about what sort of life he's had to this point. I mean, obviously it's been a little troublesome, what with Canada, but there's obviously more to the puzzle from before as well, one that I'm desperate to piece together, but unable to progress with.

Once the "grand tour" was over, I flopped myself down on the couch, accompanied by a couple of blankets and cushions I'd collated from my room. I beckoned for Hiro to join me by patting the seat, and soon enough, we were both cozily under our own separate blanket, the remote in my hand as he cycled through the available movies, eventually landing on our target. Snacks were abandoned, since we were both too comfortable to care about them, full on coffee, and anticipating the pizza we were having later on.

The title credits of the movie, side by side with the traditional Halloween piano score, was drowned out by my own thoughts as the conversation died down between us, for the first time in hours...

...I'm still wearing his hoodie!
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Cute chapters are cute

Fact of the Day: my boy Aki be fallin' deep...