Fuselage

♡~♡ Chapter 16 ♡~♡

"Alright." Eijirou grunted, wrenching his arm hard and stepping away from the A7M. "That's about as good as I can get it, man."

"Yeah." Katsuki huffed, climbing down from the cockpit to join Eijirou at the table, patting Sakura's head as she whined from her place by the toolbox. "I've got it wired as good as I can from my end too." He sat with a huff, shoving Aki off his lap with a hiss. "Fuckin, watch your claws you shit."

Sakura placed her head in his lap, big eyes watching him, tail wagging slowly as Aki curled around his feet.

Eijirou snorted, popping open a strawberry yogurt. "Those dogs really love you, man."

"Eh." Katsuki set the rag down, picking up a cold water from the ice chest between them. "It's more that they're used to me."

"Nah." Eijirou laughed softly, eyes wrinkling at the edges, cheeks bunched. Katsuki hated that he forgot to breathe taking the sight of the man across from him in. "You should see them when someone tries to break in."

Katsuki inhaled again when those eyes turned to him, quickly dropping his gaze to the lid in between his fingers. "Do people break in often?"

"No way!" Eijirou leaned back to call Aki over. "Mostly just bored teens with nothing better to do."

"Ah." Katsuki took a drink, eyes shifting to glare pointedly. "So you mean you and the other jackasses."

"Oi," He leaned forward, finger pointed, eyes intense before a grin split his face. "We were not the only ones..."

"Uh huh." Katsuki rolled his eyes, looking out in the late afternoon sky. "It'd be a nice night for a barbeque."

"Damn." Eijirou sighed. "It would, huh?" He straightened. "Let's do it."

"Hmm?" Katsuki swallowed quick, spluttering a little, "The fuck you mean 'let's do it'? You can't just-"

"Sure we can. Maybe Denki's other crush can bring us up some good cuts from the city. And some tunes." Eijirou pulled out his phone, punching in his passcode. "She's a DJ you know. Plays down at a club. Oh man, I could get us a good spot down by the house. Oh it'd be so fun with you for the first time! And we'll have to take you out dancing at least once. Kyoka can get us in pretty cheap-"

Katsuki averted his eyes as Eijirou planned, but not before seeing Pony dressed up cute in a cut off with her hair curled as the lock screen image, a huge gorge behind her. Grand Canyon. It felt so wrong. A hand fell to his stomach. It hurt again. His chest felt too tight. He jerked away, wanting to cry - it was so much easier now. To cry. Ever since...

"You-" Eijirou sat straighter, leaned forward, phone lowered. "You okay, Kat?"

Those ruby eyes glimmered in the reddening daylight and Katsuki couldn't breathe. "You said you wouldn't say anything about it." He reminded Eijirou, forcing himself to breathe, his stomach twisting, that black hair lit up in warm oranges, so soft and inviting - and he knew now. He knew the texture, the smell, the-

"Sorry." Eijirou leaned back, shook his head, eyes guarded, lines in his smile tight, fingers tapping at the corner of his lips in quick succession. "You're right." He ran them along his bottom lip, took a drink. "Anyway, this barbecue?"

"Alright." Katsuki stood much to Sakura's disappointment. "You get that set up. I need to make a quick call to Round Face real fast."

Eijirou flashed a thumbs up despite the confusion on his face, phone pressed to his ear.

"Right." Katsuki muttered to himself, dipping around to the backside of the hangar, ignoring the trail of dogs following. "He has no idea who Round Face is." Katsuki dialed his mother. "Pick up." He commanded the ring tone. "Pick up, pick up, pick up-"