Thread by @pettykawas

#ushioi

It’s a strange thing, Tooru thinks, to be held so close that he feels every breath Wakatoshi takes, and to still feel as though they’re oceans apart.

It’s clear in the way Wakatoshi looks at him when he thinks Tooru isn’t aware of the eyes tracing his silhouette.

He thinks that Tooru will leave. After three months of seeing each other, Wakatoshi is still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Tooru isn’t about to pretend that he’s a verbally direct person, but he’s never let that get in the way of expressing his affection.

He reaches for Wakatoshi’s hand every chance he gets. He had been the one to initiate their first kiss, and he always pecks Wakatoshi on the cheek before either of them leave their dorm rooms. He even demands that Wakatoshi embrace him while they sleep.

Did Wakatoshi not pay attention?

Did their rocky history make him hesitant? They worked through that in their junior year, didn’t they?

Tooru resists the urge to let out a childish grumble, just as an errant thought gives him pause.

Perhaps… Wakatoshi had simply been waiting for words that haven’t come. For the words that had been absent in lieu of action. The clear, undisputable reassurance that he’d yet to hear from Tooru’s mouth: I am here to stay.

Tooru stills.

He can’t believe it has taken him this long to figure this out.

He turns in Wakatoshi’s arms, who regards him with a look of surprise, which gives way to confusion when Tooru frames his face with his hands. Delicate, determined.

“I’m not leaving,” Tooru declares.

Wakatoshi frowns, groggily asks, “What?”

Tooru sighs and reaches for one of Wakatoshi’s hands before placing it atop his chest, right over where his heart beats.

Realization dawns on the face it beats for, and Tooru decides the look of wonder on Wakatoshi’s face is well worth the embarrassment

that comes with having done such a cheesy gesture.

“Don’t you get it?” he asks, cheeks and ears warm. “I like you. A lot. You /must/ know that by now.”

Wakatoshi slowly smiles, and he opens his mouth, then he thinks better of it. He leans forward, captures Tooru’s lips in a tender kiss, and Tooru can taste it on his tongue, the unspoken, “I like you, too.”

Tooru smiles so wide they have to break apart. Thankfully, Wakatoshi is nothing if not persistent, and he presses soft kisses all over Tooru’s face, expressing his affection in the language Tooru knows best.

For good measure, Wakatoshi says, “I like you, Tooru.” His olive-green eyes warm, so warm.

Tooru kisses him again.

That night, they fall asleep in each other’s arms, sent to slumber by the rhythm of their hearts, now closer than ever before.