Archive of Our Own

It was Sunday afternoon and the train station was crowded and loud. Large groups of people were milling around the station’s many stores and trying to enjoy the last few hours of their weekend. Nagisa, on the other hand, had just got out of practice and was very much ready to go back home and crash. His upcoming live performance meant he had been attending brutal practice sessions almost every day for the past few months. He just wanted to collapse on his bed the second he got to his apartment and recharge.

A few paces ahead of him, the door to a bakery opened up, and a man walked out. The stranger appeared to be juggling quite a few things as he exited the store. His antics were amusing to Nagisa, who watched as the stranger tried to put his wallet away in his back pocket while simultaneously trying to text someone with his other hand and hold a plastic bag. As a result of his poorly managed multitasking, the guy ended up completely missing his pocket, dropped his wallet on the floor and stomped away from it.

Nagisa blinked in surprise before springing into action. He hastily checked his flu mask to make sure it was properly hiding his face and trotted over.

“Excuse me!” he called out as he crouched down to pick the wallet up and chased after the stranger. He tapped the man lightly on the arm and said, “You dropped this.”

The response he got from his simple tap was pretty incredible, since the guy practically whipped his entire body around to glare at him. The effect of his sudden movement was even more pronounced when Nagisa realized how tall the guy was. He was probably only half a head taller, but the regal way he carried himself and his broad shoulders made him look big. Nagisa recoiled at the intensity of the “greeting,” but then the intimidating look on the stranger’s face melted into something else.

“I’m sorry, what?” he asked.

It wasn’t exactly recognition Nagisa saw in his eyes, which was a bit of a relief. Most of his fans were pretty respectful and tame, but he’d had very uncomfortable encounters with overzealous supporters before. But once he stopped looking scary, the man became absolutely gorgeous. He was like a perfect 10—the very epitome of tall, dark, and handsome. Beneath his mask, Nagisa’s mouth dropped open. His heart started beating faster.

For a second, he was too caught up with admiring the arch of the guy’s eyebrows and the shape of his jaw. Then he snapped out of it and looked into the man’s eyes, which was also a mistake. People often complimented Nagisa for his pretty and unusually colored eyes, but this guy had some pretty incredible eyes himself. The glare on his glasses frames hid their color a little, but Nagisa was still completely captivated by the stunning shade of purple they were. He almost wanted to lean up and take a closer look, but he knew better than to do that.

“Uh,” he floundered dumbly, only managing to blink a few times. The weight of the slim wallet between his fingers reminded him of what he had been trying to do. “You dropped your wallet!”

The man patted his back pocket to confirm the fact that his wallet wasn’t where it was supposed to be. “Oh,” he said simply with an open expression and the most adorable voice ever, “oh my goodness, thank you so much.” Nagisa almost giggled as the guy bowed and reached out for his wallet. “I was so distracted, I didn’t even notice. It was very kind of you to return it to me.”

Nagisa grinned, absolutely tickled pink by how formal and, for the lack of a better term, funny the stranger was. He didn’t know if anyone besides characters in old classical books spoke like that. The more Nagisa looked at him, with his slightly windblown hair, his pretty red glasses, and his perfect poise, the more the guy looked like a young, awkward professor. So not only did he have the looks, but the guy had an adorable and dorky personality to go with it. Nagisa was pretty sure he was in love.

“Really, I can't thank you enough. I'm sure I wouldn't have even noticed it was gone until I'd already gotten home.” The man kept talking as he put his wallet and phone in his bag, and Nagisa wondered if the guy felt as nervous as he did. If he was, he didn’t show it at all.

“No prob!” he replied, absentmindedly tugging at his beanie and fixing his bangs. Nagisa felt oddly self-conscious under the man’s grateful gaze. He hoped he didn’t have dark eye circles. After maintaining eye contact with the stranger for so long, Nagisa couldn’t bear it any longer and had to glance away. It was too embarrassing to keep looking at him. Instead, he started examining the guy’s possessions. He only had an overstuffed-looking messenger bag slung over his chest and a plastic bag with the logo of the bakery he just exited emblazoned over it.

Impulsively, Nagisa blurted out, “Is this bakery any good? I mean, I always pass by it, but I’ve never been inside, even though it always smells so good.”

“Oh, I don’t know, actually. I’ve never been here before, but they have quite a nice selection.” He paused and said a bit sheepishly, “My friend sent me here to buy a cake for my birthday.”

Nagisa stared at him, not sure whether or not he misheard his last statement. “Wait, your friend made you come out here to buy a cake for your own birthday?” he asked in disbelief.

“Well, I mean, it’s–” the guy stammered and pushed his glasses up. “Yes, actually, but... Well, we were supposed to have a proper party tomorrow on my actual birthday, but he found out at the last minute that he's going to be leaving town for a competition in the morning, so we had to reschedule, and—and now I get the privilege of buying myself cake and ferrying him to the airport instead.”

Nagisa politely repressed a giggle snort which threatened to interrupt the man by chewing on his inner cheek. He couldn’t get over how cute this guy was. That was probably not the right reaction to his explanation though, since the stranger looked so disgruntled.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said sympathetically, unconsciously shuffling half a step forward. “But you’ll be able to celebrate with your other friends, right?” Immediately after he asked that, Nagisa really hoped that the guy did have other friends because, otherwise, their conversation was going to get seriously awkward.

The man laughed quietly, and Nagisa almost melted at the sound of it. “Honestly, I'm not really one for parties. I only agreed to celebrate it in the first place because my birthday is the peak night for the Geminids this year and I was able to talk him into going to Nagano to watch them with... me....”

Nagisa nodded sagely. That sounded like a good compromise, even though he couldn’t really understand why the other man didn’t like parties. Nagisa was all about cake and presents and loud celebrating.

While he pondered why anyone would ever not like parties, his cheek started to itch, and he absentmindedly pulled his mask down to his neck to scratch at it. Halfway through rubbing his face, he realized something: the guy just mentioned the Geminids.

Nagisa gasped dramatically, bunched his fists right beneath his face, and leaned forward. “Wait, you like stargazing?” he practically yelled at the guy. The stranger recoiled slightly with widened eyes, but Nagisa was too excited to stop. “Oh my god! Me too! I always feel so small and insignificant when I’m looking up at them, but it’s like—it’s a good feeling, you know? As if, even though we might be suuuper tiny in comparison to the rest of the universe, we still mean something somehow. It’s a pretty amazing feeling….” he sighed dreamily.

Immediately afterwards, he got loud again. “And you said your birthday is right during the peak? You’re so lucky! I wanted so badly to go see them this year, but I’ve been so busy with practices, and Mako-chan won’t give me any days off, and ugh! I’m so jealous!”

If he got any more worked up, he might have started shaking the guy, but Nagisa abruptly remembered they were still in the middle of a train station and realized he was probably making a scene. He looked around them and saw one or two people glancing at them. Mortification made his face and ears burn as he backed up and ducked his head.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Nagisa said while tugging on his bangs again, completely embarrassed.

“No, no, not at all,” the guy said in a reassuring voice, and Nagisa perked up at his apparent not-disgust with him. His expression was soft and sincere as he continued speaking. “It’s… refreshing to know I’m not the only one looking at the stars. Even if you’re busy, you should try to go see them; they’re supposed to be particularly breathtaking this year,” he said, and Nagisa felt a little flutter in his chest.

The way the man talked was so odd but poetic. It was like every word that came from his mouth was pure inspiration and deep meaning or something. Nagisa felt like he could spend all day just listening to him speak, especially when the stranger had a voice like melted milk chocolate. But he was still talking, and Nagisa was dangerously close to zoning out and just making eyes at the guy, so he shook himself out of his daze and focused again.

“I could only get one day off work, so I was planning on taking the train up there, staying outside all night, and catching the first train home in the morning.”

Nagisa nodded. It was a shame the Geminids stretched over a Sunday and Monday this year, but he was still so jealous…. At least the stranger would be able to see one night of the meteor shower. He really wished he could watch it too, but Makoto had been adamant about packing his schedule to bursting until his live performance in the following month.

“I wish,” he said despondently, scuffing his shoes on the floor. Nagisa pouted. “My manage—errr, my boss… definitely wouldn’t give me the day off though. Especially not on such short notice.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Nagisa noticed a small commotion. There was a cluster of high school girls glancing at him and whispering furiously at each other. Their giggles were muffled behind their hands, but he distinctly heard them saying things like, “Hey, isn’t that Nagi-chan? Oh my god, that’s totally him, isn’t it! Should we go try and talk with him? Aaah, oh my god!”

Cold sweat began collecting on his hairline and going down the line of his back. He had to leave before the girls blew his cover. As much as he wanted to stay and continue talking to the cute stranger, Nagisa had to make a quick escape first. He pulled his mask back up.

“Ah, well,” he said as naturally as he could, “it’s getting pretty late, and I guess your friend’s still waiting for you and your cake! I should let you go. I gotta go home too. It was really nice talking to you! I hope you have fun watching the Geminids! And happy early birthday!” he finished in a rush.

Nagisa was practically crying on the inside as he smiled at the man, waved, and speed-walked off. If they guy had said anything after that, Nagisa didn’t hear, because he had quickly ducked into a passing crowd of commuters and started running away.

He was already starting to regret leaving the guy behind, partially because he had fled the scene without explanation and also because he hadn’t even asked for his name. Nor did he have the chance to take a picture of the man. Now, not only was he doomed to forever refer to the stranger as his “soulmate he met in the train station that one fateful Sunday,” but he had no evidence that they actually met. Nagisa only had his memories to remember the man by.

With a regretful sigh, Nagisa tapped his wallet against the ticket gate sensor and headed toward his train.

The entire journey back, he was lost in a hazy blur of lost love and missed opportunities.

The stranger’s deep, comforting voice and the sparkling purple of his eyes kept floating around in Nagisa’s mind as he slowly unlocked his apartment door. He sighed wistfully and smiled as his heartbeat quickened again. His home was downright frosty though, and the fact that crossing the threshold felt like going into a walk-in fridge was enough to kill his warm daydreams. Nagisa shivered while he shucked his shoes off and ran into his room to turn on the space heater.

While the heater crackled to life, he flopped unhappily on the floor. He knew he should go shower, since he was still dirty from dance practice, but he felt too sad and lethargic to do anything other than despair over his handsome stranger. While he was lolling around, he caught sight of his laptop. He sat up.

Nagisa made a thoughtful noise and shuffled closer to it. Then, with a resolute nod, he lunged for his computer and turned it on. He started chewing on his lower lip as he waited for the log in screen to show up but immediately stopped when he realized what he was doing. Instead, he started fiddling with his sleeve hem.

Once the welcome screen came into view, he entered his password and opened up his internet browser. More than a dozen tabs started loading from his previous session, causing a slight lag. It felt like ages before the new tab he opened loaded and let him enter the URL for his blog. He tapped his fingers impatiently on his laptop while the page refreshed and allowed him to click on the “New Post” option.

A million things raced through his mind as he stared at the blank text box. He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and began typing away furiously.

2015.12.13 Sunday - 19:28
I just met my soulmate, but I don't even know his name ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡

Hi, everyone! It’s been a while~
Or so I say, but it’s only been like three days since I last posted something! Lol

The weather’s been getting really cold lately, so is everyone keeping warm?
I’ve been doing my best not to get sick, so everyone, you have to do your best too!

But it hasn’t snowed at all yet, huh? (｡>﹏<｡)
I hope it’ll snow by Christmas~
A white Christmas would be so romantic, don’t you think? (>ω<)

Anyway, I have a happy and sad story for you guys today!
First of all, do you guys believe in “love at first sight”?
To be honest, I didn’t until today!!

I was heading back home after another dance practice
And I was heading toward the platform to my train…
When I saw someone drop their wallet! (・o・)

So of course, I ran over and picked it up for him! ☆
And we started talking…

But omg, I don’t know what happened, but the second I saw his face, it was like….
The whole world froze???
All I could see was his face (he was so handsome!) and hear his voice (he had such a nice voice!!)

Has this ever happened to you before???
Because it definitely never had for me!
I was so surprised! (✽ﾟдﾟ✽)

But anyway! We were standing right outside a bakery, and he had just bought something from it!
You won’t believe this, but he had bought a birthday cake for HIMSELF!
He said it was because his friend told him to. Lol
That was so funny and sad, because whoever has to buy their OWN birthday cake??? Lololol

Another cool thing? His birthday is actually DURING the Geminids!!
Isn’t that amazing?!?!?!
My birthday is right around the Perseids, and HIS is right around the Geminids!
IT’S LIKE FATE. (ㆁωㆁ*)

And HE likes star-gazing too!!!
(IT’S DEFINITELY FATE.)

(I, uh, accidentally started like yelling at him because I got so excited that he liked the stars too.…)
(That was so embarrassing. ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡)

Omg, I was just DYING the entire time I was talking to him
Because he was so cute and sweet, and omgggg
I totally made a fool out of myself in front of him! ORZ
I hope he doesn’t think I’m a super weirdo. (´；ω；｀)

Idk why, but I was so nervous around him!

I blame it on his dorky red glasses and the adorable way he fixes them
And how he kinda quirks his left eyebrow up when he’s thinking and
Aaaaahhhhh

He’s just too cute. SIGHS.

Anyway, halfway through our chat, I realized that I had to run
So we didn’t talk TOO too much.

I’m so, so, SOOOO sad though!!!
Because I didn’t even ask for his name or get a picture or ANYthing!
I bet he thought I was trying to run away from him, since I left in such a rush…. (TдT)

I wish we could meet up again, because I SWEAR he’s my soulmate, but what are the chances?
Japan’s so big, and I bet he doesn’t even know who I am…
I mean, he definitely didn’t act like he knew who I was…. (;_;)

But here’s to hoping we’ll be able to see each other again one day!
Wish me luck, everyone! ☆

Anyway, that’s all I have to say for today!
I wrote so much lol

I hope you all have a good night~ (*´ω｀*)

Nagisa sat back and reread his post, feeling much better since he had written all his thoughts down. And he also had the chance to relive his encounter with his stranger, which was an added plus. He nodded in satisfaction and clicked the “Post” button. The page went blank, refreshed, and then showed his new entry on his blog.

He sighed as he fell back, lay on the floor, and pushed his laptop aside. He had said it in his post, but Nagisa really did feel like it was fate that brought the stranger and him together like that. There was no other way. Their conversation had been short, but he felt as if there had been some sort of connection between them. He had never felt that way before, especially during a first meeting with someone, and Nagisa had met a lot of people.

With a heavy groan and some mumbling, he turned to his side and closed his eyes. He wished he at least had a name to whisper lovingly to himself, but he didn’t even have that.

Then his mind started to wander even farther, and he began to get worried. He was heads-over-heel for this guy, but he didn’t know if the stranger felt the same way about him. Or if he already had a significant other. Or, Nagisa thought and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes, if he was even interested in men…. He could spend the rest of his life daydreaming about the guy, but if it was just a one-sided delusion on his end, then there was no meaning. Maybe the man had already forgotten all about Nagisa.

“My life is full of regrets,” he grumbled petulantly to himself.

Suddenly, a cheery tune started ringing from somewhere. Nagisa reached into his pocket and dug out his phone. A picture of a startled-looking Makoto and the words “Mako-chan!!” flashed at him. He swiped at his screen and put the phone to his ear.

“Hey, Mako-chan,” he greeted with a lot less vigor than he usually did.

“Nagisa!”

The voice on the other side of the line sounded disapproving and panicked, a combination Nagisa wasn’t fond of. He winced and chewed his lip. “Um, yes?”

“What’s with the new blog post you just put up!” In the background, Nagisa could hear Makoto clicking a mouse furiously.

“Uh,” he tried evasively, “it was just a summary of my day?”

“Nagisa!” Makoto said in his no-nonsense voice, and Nagisa could already tell his manager was beginning to pull at his own hair. “This isn’t funny! You’ve barely posted that up five minutes ago, and you’re already this close to being a trending tag on Twitter! I know you’re not as visible to the public as actors are, but as an idol, you’re still a public figure, you know!”

“Oh my goddd, Mako-chan! Calm down! It’s not like I posted about how I had wild and kinky sex with this stranger I just met or anything!”

Nagisa, so help me god, please tell me that is not what you did,” Makoto said, his voice suddenly very calm and very chilling.

He pressed his hand on his forehead. “Yes, Mako-chan,” Nagisa replied in a deadpan voice, “that is exactly what we did, and it felt absolutely amazing.” He paused and said shrilly, “No! Oh my god, I wish, but no!”

“Nagisa—”

“Mako-chan!” he interrupted. “Look, just calm down, okay? It’s not like the company banned me from dating while I’m under contract, and I’ve never given you any grief about love scandals before, so what’s the big deal?”

“Just because your contract doesn’t keep you from dating doesn’t mean you should go out of your way to make my job harder! And is this really the best time to be coming out in public? I know we’re becoming more progressive, but I don’t think Japan’s liberal enough to accept this yet! PR’s going to kill me!”

“I’ll just tell them it wasn’t your fault!”

Makoto heaved a heavy sigh and fell into silence. Nagisa could imagine him rubbing his face in fatigue, and he started feeling bad for causing him so much trouble. It was a split second decision to post up the blog entry, and he had honestly not really thought about the consequences. He had always been so open about his sexuality that he had forgotten that he hadn’t confirmed anything officially yet. Makoto was going to have one hell of a time trying to clean up his mess.

Guilt began worming into his chest, so before things got too bad, Nagisa squeaked out, “I’m sorry,” into his phone.

“No, it’s fine—I’m sorry too. I got too worked up. You just surprised me by posting that up all of a sudden, especially since you’ve never done anything like this before…. I’ll deal with the media about your post and hope this doesn’t affect your concert next month.” He sighed again. “So? What’s the deal with this guy? And will you really not consider deleting that post?”

“Umm, well, I was kind of hoping he might maybe see my post and realize it’s me… and maybe try to find me? Like, through you or something? Oh my god, Mako-chan, you have got to help me find this guy though. He’s like, perfect for me, I swear,” he said breathlessly, sitting up in excitement. His previous doubts were dashed from his mind as he began gushing about the stranger. “He was super tall and handsome, and he had these beautiful eyes and awesome hair, and his nose was like—ugh, absolute perfection. And don’t even get me started on his hands, oh my god.

“And—and!” he went on, before Makoto could get a word in, “He was the sweetest, dorkiest cutie I have ever met in my entire life. You should’ve heard the way he talked! He was like an old-school textbook or something! It was amazing. He was the perfect gentleman. Totally swept me off my feet, Mako-chan.

“Everything he said was pure poetry and so romantic,” he sighed happily. “We even talked about the stars a little bit—remember how I was telling you about the Geminids, which you wouldn’t let me take two days off to see?” Nagisa cleared his throat, and Makoto made a small, guilty noise. “I told him why I liked watching them, and he totally got me, Mako-chan. He didn’t say he did, but I saw it in his eyes! We’re total soulmates.”

“Well,” Makoto started cautiously, “I’m glad to hear that you were able to meet someone so special…. But even if you ask me to help you look, you know I’m too busy with organizing your live show to do anything else. And now I have to deal with PR as well.”

“But Mako-chan!” he cried out indignantly. “You’re my manager! You’re supposed to help me with everything! Pleaaase just help me with this one little thing? I’ve never wanted anything more than just being able to find this guy again!”

“If I remember correctly, there was that one time you really wanted a pet penguin and—”

“That one time doesn’t count! I was just kidding!”

“You asked me to call all the zoos in Tokyo and see if they’d be willing to sell us a penguin.”

He put on a serious face. “I’m a changed man now, Mako-chan.”

“Nagisa…” Makoto said with his regretful, motherly tone.

Before Makoto got any further, Nagisa sighed and lay back on the floor. “I know. You can’t. I was just asking to see if there was that slim chance you might’ve been able to….”

“I’m sorry, Nagisa,” he said sincerely.

“I’m sorry too,” Nagisa breathed out.

“Well…. I’ll go deal with PR now. Rest up for today, Nagisa. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, I will. Bye, Mako-chan.”

“Bye.”

He took his phone away from his face and hung up. Nagisa let his arm flop to the side with a thump and stared at the ceiling.

After he languished sadly for a few more minutes, Nagisa decided it was high time to go shower, so he picked his dead body from the floor and got clean. He also made a hasty, definitely-not-Makoto -approved dinner, ate it, and returned to his finally warm room. Nagisa nodded gratefully at his small space heater and woke his laptop from sleep.

Makoto told him his blog entry had gotten a lot of attention, but he honestly wasn’t expecting such a large amount of comments on it already. He only read through a handful of them before he closed the tab. Then, he checked his messenger app. Makoto’s name had a small green circle by it, and since Nagisa had nothing better to do, he double clicked on it and opened up a chat box with his manager.

hi mako-chan!!!

Good evening, Nagisa.

whatcha up to?

Still trying to appease PR and make satisfactory compromises with them.

>_< sorry…..

I know.

i really didn’t mean to….

I know you didn’t. Don’t feel too bad about it.
We all make mistakes, after all.

lkajsgkjasdrasd mako-chaaaaannnnnn….
(;w;)
you’re so nice……

That, I know too.

lol

During the lull in their conversation, Nagisa came up with a brilliant idea. He ran off to find some paper and a pen and started drawing enthusiastically. Five minutes later, he was done with his masterpiece. He snapped a picture of it with his phone and sent it to Makoto in an email titled, “MAKO-CHAN, LOOK AT THIS.” Nagisa shuffled excitedly to his laptop again and waited for Makoto to say something. When about 15 seconds passed with no word from him, Nagisa took the initiative.

MAKO-CHAN, CHECK YOUR EMAIL!!!

???

i was THINKING, you know, so like
OKAY, even if you DID want to help me find my one true love, you wouldn’t have any idea what he looks like right??
i mean, you don’t even have his name or anything so

I THOUGHT,
“HEY, WHY DON’T I DRAW A PICTURE OF MY SOULMATE’S GORGEOUS FACE AS REFERENCE FOR MAKO-CHAN?”
so there you have it!!!

how's it look?
(ㆁωㆁ*)

There was a long pause before Makoto said anything.

Er, Nagisa…

He frowned at the two simple words, because he knew exactly what kind of voice Makoto said it in. It was definitely his “Nagisa, I love you, but there’s something I need to tell you,” voice.

Cautiously, Nagisa glanced over at his drawing again and let out a cry of despair. Before Makoto could enter another word into their chat, he started tapping on his keyboard.

MAKO-CHAN,SAY NO MMORE, I KNOW WHAT YOUR”E THINKING…..
I MAY BE NA ARTIST, BUT I TOTALLY SUCK AT DRWING…………
SIGH………….

… at least it looks like a face, right?

Uh… ^_^;
Let’s just focus on you not losing your day job for now….

lol

Anyway, I haven’t been able to talk to everyone yet, but as a whole, there seems to be much less backlash against your post than I had anticipated.
Your fan base’s reaction has also been… oddly positive.

that’s a good thing, right?

Yes.
BUT

Nagisa cringed and braced for the worst.

The company is understandably upset at your actions, especially since you didn’t consult them or even ME about it.
There’s going to be a lot of clean-up interviews after this, so I hope you’re prepared to explain yourself to the public.
I’ll make sure to get some PR people down with us, so we can all sit down and talk about what we want you to say though, so don’t worry too much.

okay….

You’re lucky th e company didn’t decide to do something more drastic aside from scolding you severely and giving you a slap on the wrist. They could have easily cancelled your live.

i'm sorrryyyyyyy!!! (;_;)

I know. I know you didn’t mean to do something like that. But you have to be more careful in the future, alright? You’ve been an idol for more than five years already.
You should know better! >_>

TT_TT

(sigh)
Just promise me that you won’t ever do something like this without talking to me first, okay?

okay….
sorry again for dragging you into this mess…. m(_ _;)m

I accept your apology.
Anyway, you wouldn’t be Nagisa if you didn’t get carried away and did something crazy once in a while, right?

hehehe. i guess not.
you're the best, mako-chan!
thanks again.

No problem.
Well, I still have some things to take care of, and you should probably rest up for tomorrow’s practice.

yeah, i'm pretty tired!!!
i guess I’ll see you tomorrow!
night, mako-chan!  ♡ ♡ ♡

Good night, Nagisa.

He stared at the screen for a second longer before closing the tab and shutting down his laptop. Even though Makoto had light-heartedly said that it was no problem, Nagisa knew he had loaded a lot of work onto his manager. He wouldn’t be surprised if Makoto ended up having to pull an all-nighter just for him. Nagisa nodded resolutely and promised himself to work extra hard in order to make it up to Makoto. And he would have to get something nice for him too. If it was anyone who deserved something nice, it was Makoto.

The following morning, Nagisa woke up to his ringing phone. For a bleary second, he was confused because it wasn’t the usual alarm noise, but an actual ringtone. He blindly reached out and squinted and swiped at the screen.

“Mako-chan?” he croaked out.

“Oh—whoops. Did I wake you before your alarm?”

Nagisa half-suppressed a yawn and a groan. “Mmn, sorta. It’s alright though. What’s up?” He shoved his head back onto his pillow and snuggled under his warm blankets while listening to Makoto’s distant voice.

“Well, I received a phone call last night from a news company asking for an interview with you. I was going to decline since I thought it was too soon for one, but after double-checking with the company’s higher ups, I found out that they want you to officially do something about your blog post ASAP. Anyway, long story short, I accepted the interview for you, which means you’ll have to take an overnight trip to Osaka tonight.”

“Mmmn….”

“… Nagisa? Did you go back to sleep?”

He groaned again and shuffled around in his bed. “Maybe….”

Makoto sighed. “I’ll tell you again when you get to the practice studio, but for now, just make sure to pack an overnight bag and bring it with you! It might be really cold over there, so take extra jackets and scarves with you. And your gloves. And maybe your earmuffs and hats too.”

“Mako-chan,” he mumbled, “that’s like my entire closet….”

“I just don’t want you to be cold during your trip!”

“It’s like one night. I’m not gonna die if I’m cold for one night.”

“I’m going to be checking your bag when you get here, so you’d better have everything prepared, Nagisa!” he said in his scolding mother tone.

“’Kaaay….”

“Tell me again what you need to bring to work today!”

Nagisa whined and squirmed petulantly. But, after sighing dramatically, he said, “An overnight bag with all my winter stuff in it….”

“Good enough.”

“It’s not like I’m gonna be camping outside or anything, so why do I even need that much stuff….”

“You never know!” Makoto said shrilly.

“If they’ll throw me outside in the middle of the night for an interview?” He frowned.

“Never mind that! It’s just better to be overprepared than underprepared! Now wake up before you’re late to practice!”

He rolled over and wrapped the blankets more tightly around himself. “Five more minutes….”

“Nagisa…”

“It’s not even bright out yet!” he complained.

“Yes, welcome to winter in Japan. Now get up! Get up, or I’m eating all your snacks for this afternoon.”

“Nooo! Mako-chan!”

“See you at 9 a.m. sharp, Nagisa.”

The line went dead, and Nagisa groaned. He wished Makoto wasn’t such a ruthless manager slash second mother sometimes.

Nagisa barely made it to the studio with five minutes to spare. Makoto was tapping furiously on his phone when Nagisa approached him. After making sure that the two drinks he was holding were stable and safe, he carefully bumped his shoulder against Makoto’s arm. “Morning, Mako-chan!” he chirped.

“Oh!” Makoto started and nearly dropped his phone in surprise. He managed to catch it and clutched it to his chest.

Guiltily, Nagisa took a step back and ducked his head in apology. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you….”

Makoto shook his head and shakily put his cell away. “It’s alright. I was just a little too absorbed in reading this, uh, article I found… earlier….” He glanced shiftily to the side, which made Nagisa suspicious.

He knew Makoto only acted so weirdly when he was trying to hide something. But instead of prying into whatever Makoto was trying to conceal, Nagisa just stared at him. He hadn’t been able to tell during their morning conversation on the phone since he was so out of it, but now, standing only a few paces from Makoto, Nagisa could tell exactly how exhausted he looked.

There were dark circles beneath his eyes, and Makoto looked… drained. Even his standing posture was a less straight than usual. When he yawned discreetly behind his hand, Nagisa was sure that Makoto had probably gotten way less sleep than he should have. Maybe he hadn’t slept at all. Nagisa felt a stab go through his chest as he thought about how well he had slept the night before.

Nagisa was suddenly very grateful he had stopped by Makoto’s favorite coffee shop and gotten something for him before coming. He smiled sheepishly and held up one of the cups in his hands. “Coffee?”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” Makoto said as he reached out gratefully and gave him a slight bow.

“It was the least I could do for you,” he said and wrapped his hands around his own cup of hot chocolate. Nagisa watched Makoto take a sip of his drink and grinned when the tension from his body melted away.

“Ah…. There’s nothing quite like a good cup of coffee in the morning…. Thanks, Nagisa. I’ve been so busy lately, I’ve not been able to stop by the shop…. This really hits the spot.” He gulped down some more and sighed contentedly. “Now that I’m all nice and recharged, let me see your overnight bag!”

“Mako-chan, oh my goddd….”

“Nagisa?” Makoto stood over him and peered at his face worriedly.

Nagisa only grunted in response from his supine position on the floor. Practice was the same as always, but he felt especially lethargic because he couldn’t stop spending the entire day thinking about his mysterious stranger and how it was his birthday today and how he couldn’t be there with him. It had really taken a lot out of him.

Carefully, Makoto avoided stepping on Nagisa’s outstretched limbs and crouched. “I just got a call from the news company I told you about this morning. They suddenly cancelled on us because of a schedule conflict. You won’t need to go to Osaka tonight, and you won’t have practice tomorrow either since you were supposed to be at your interview. Sorry about making you pack so much for nothing.”

“Oh,” he said simply. “It’s alright. Thanks for telling me, Mako-chan….” He was feeling so sad that even the news of a sudden day off didn’t liven him up at all.

“No problem,” Makoto replied. For a second, he look conflicted on what to do but eventually sat down next to Nagisa and crossed his legs. “What’s the matter?”

“I tired myself out angsting over my unfortunate fate,” he answered petulantly.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Nagisa could see Makoto carefully chewing over his next words. “Is this about your soulmate again?”

He sighed dramatically. “Yes.”

“And is that why you’re lying on the floor instead of sitting on the chair right next to you?” If anyone else had asked Nagisa the same question, he would have not doubted for a second that they were making fun of him. But coming from Makoto, it was only a question of pure concern and curiosity.

Nagisa rolled over to his side so he was facing Makoto. He pouted. “Maybe.”

Makoto smiled softly and started petting his head. “I’m sorry. I can’t help you out there, but maybe there’s something you can do to cheer up a bit. I heard from a friend that there’s a bakery in one of the train stations you always pass through that has a good selection of sweets and cakes. Why don’t you, uh, stop by there and see what they have?”

“This is a sadness that not even cake can help, Mako-chan….”

“That serious, huh?” he teased gently. “Well,” Makoto said, patting his head a few times more, “just try it out, okay? And I want to eat some of the pastries there too, so if you could help me buy something from there, that’d be great.”

“Something with chocolate?”

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

“Okay.” Nagisa gave him a tiny smile. He let out a deep breath. “I guess I should get up and get ready to go then, huh.”

Makoto glanced at his watch. “Maybe. It is getting pretty late.”

“Okay,” he said again but didn’t move.

“You… might want to hurry though. I think the shop closes in about an hour and a half, so….”

“Alright, alright,” he groaned and sat up. “I’ll go.”

“Feel better, Nagisa. Use your day off tomorrow to cheer up. I’m sure everything will be okay in the end.”

“Thanks, Mako-chan. I hope so too….”

There didn’t seem to be much going on online, but then again, Nagisa wasn’t really paying attention to what he was reading as he scrolled through the net. He was only half-paying attention as he stood in the silent train car and waited for it to arrive at the right transfer station. Even after his quick pep talk with Makoto, he still felt down. He just hoped the bakery Makoto recommended really was as good as it sounded.

He had barely opened his Twitter to see what was new on his timeline when his phone buzzed with a new message. Then his phone vibrated three more times in rapid succession. They were all from Makoto. He tapped on the notification flag.

Nagisa, I found this interesting viral post just now and thought you might be interested in seeing it. It sure is funny how these posts get popular, huh! It’s like random luck or something.

Hahahahaha!

Oh! Right, here’s the link.

Nagisa couldn’t help but quirk his mouth into a smile as he read Makoto’s harried texts. He was definitely up to something, but Nagisa just didn’t know what.

The link was to some popular message board. He touched it and waited for his browser to load. Once it did, he started scrolling down.

The post itself was prefaced with a short description that just said, “Omg, I would totally go see the stars with you!!! So romantic!!! Kyaa!! ♡♡♡” There was supposed to be a picture beneath the caption, but his browser was lagging, so only the comments showed. He read them while the image loaded.

“This is so romantic! Please be my boyfriend!!!”

“Lololol I bet this guy’s just a cabbage roll.”

“No way! He sounds so sincere and cute! I hope he finds his person soon!”

“I wish my boyfriend was this sweet….”

The thread was super long, so he scrolled down it out of curiosity. The contents of the comments seemed radically different from the ones on top when he glimpsed over them.

“Yeah! The descriptions totally match up, right? The bakery and everything? Even the stars!”

“So the person he’s looking for is Nagi-chan????”

“I don’t believe it!!!”

“Look at Nagi-chan’s post though, it’s the same!”

Nagisa furrowed his brows. “What?” he muttered to himself and scrolled around a bit more. He wasn’t sure what it all meant, but his heart started beating faster. He went back to the top of the page and impatiently refreshed it. The image finally loaded, and he expanded it immediately. It looked like some sort of plain search ad which had been posted the night before.

“We met outside a bakery in a train station…” he read and swallowed nervously.

The post was lengthy, but Nagisa drank in every word. They were familiar words, not just because of the voice they carried, but because of their content. The post talked about a chance meeting outside a bakery, a lost and returned wallet, and a wish to somehow meet again.

“No way….” Nagisa’s hands were shaking by the time he reached the end of the post. He choked out a trembling laugh. There was no doubt about it—this was his mystery person. Nagisa could almost imagine the fond expression and the lilt of his voice as he read the post—and god, he thought as he chewed on his lip and started rereading it—every word was for him. Each line of the poetic, touching text was written just for him, and he felt like his heart was going to burst. Everything felt so surreal.

He wanted to burn each character of the post into his memory forever, but his eyes kept skipping to certain lines which made him feel like the protagonist of an intense love story.

“I feel like I’ve stolen a glance at the sun, but the afterimage when I close my eyes is you. You wished me a happy birthday, but the truth is, you’re my birthday wish,” he read again and closed his eyes to savor the pure sappiness of the love confession. Nagisa felt as if he had truly found the perfect guy.

There was a second paragraph though, an edit which was added after it had been posted, and Nagisa scrolled down in a hurry to see what it was about.

It started off with, “Update: I saw your post, and that you feel the same way I do,” and Nagisa almost dropped his phone. Then it was love. Fate had brought them together, and it was love at first sight for both of them. He couldn’t believe it. Nagisa had been so scared that it was all just some stupid fantasy of his that maybe his soulmate liked him back, but now, he had proof that he wasn’t just dreaming.

He was going to cry. But there was more left of the post, and he had to keep reading, so he blinked quickly and squinted at his screen again.

 I know you said you’d be busy, but if you can, meet me tomorrow afternoon at the bakery where we met. I have a spare ticket on an evening train for the trip I told you about, and would love it if you would come with me. I can’t imagine a better way to spend my birthday.

The last line swam before his eyes, and he realized he really was crying.

He wanted to run and meet his soulmate again right away, but his feelings of euphoria suddenly drained away, and he felt a stab of cold panic run through his chest instead. He didn’t even know what time it was. The post mentioned meeting up in the afternoon, but it already early evening.

He looked at the top of his phone screen. It was around six, which was still early. Early-ish. Early enough, he hoped uncertainly. Nagisa didn’t know how patient his stranger was, but he hoped he hadn’t left the bakery yet. If he did, Nagisa wouldn’t know what to do. There was no way fate would be so kind to him thrice in a row.

The train was packed to the seams because of the after-work rush, but Nagisa managed to wiggle his way back from the doors and glance at the screen on the side of the train. His soulmate was waiting for him at the next station, but he was still seven minutes away from the platform. Even though he knew it was impossible, he wished the train could get there faster.

It was the longest seven minutes of his life, and it was all Nagisa could do to not claw at his face and groan in despair as he waited. He settled for tapping his foot, pulling at his sleeve, and staring intensely at the digital train map as the minutes ticked down. None of his actions seemed to help speed time along.

“The next station is Shinjuku. The doors on the right side will open...” a female voice announced over the speakers, and Nagisa’s heart began beating faster. He shuffled his feet around his duffle bag, which he had dropped on the floor when he first boarded the train, and looped a hand around one of the straps. He was ready to sprint out of the train the second the doors opened up.

Finally, he felt the train beginning to slow, and the voice announced the next stop again. He could see the platform rolling up as well, lined with queues of people. The press of commuters around him seemed to become more suffocating the closer his moment of freedom neared.

When the train stopped and the doors slid open to let cold air escape into the compartment, Nagisa sighed in impatience and relief. The first row of people by the door stepped out to let others exit, and he carefully and politely maneuvered his way out. Nagisa skipped past the queue of waiting commuters and joined the mad flood of people which flowed toward the nearest stairs and escalators.

It took another few excruciating minutes to go up to the main station and separate himself from the crush of people around him. He felt crazed and frazzled as he started speed-walking toward the bakery. His soulmate was waiting for him—he hoped—at the end of his journey. He wanted so badly to see his stranger again.

Nagisa couldn’t contain himself anymore. He started sprinting.

He nearly crashed into a few people and barely avoided running into a support column, but he managed to make it to the bakery in record time. His lungs felt like they were on fire, and the strap of his duffle bag dug heavily into his shoulder as he stood in front of the store. He opened the door as unhurriedly as he could, and then he rushed in like a madman. Nagisa didn’t even hear the chiming voices from the clerks and waiters which welcomed him warmly. He was too busy scanning the entire premise of the store a familiar head of hair and red glasses. Every face he looked at was the wrong one, and his vision began to blur.

And then, Nagisa found him.

He was sitting in the back corner of the bakery, staring at Nagisa with an expression of awe and wonder. Numbly, Nagisa laughed, because he was pretty sure that was the same expression his soulmate had on when they first met, except now, it looked much less scary and infinitely more charming.

But even his thoughts about how cute his stranger looked as he silently rose to his feet and stood shakily by his table didn’t come out right, because Nagisa couldn’t think straight anymore. He was in shock.

His stranger was there, standing just a room’s space away from him. He had waited for who-knew-how long in that same spot, and now they were staring at each other with glassy eyes which saw everything and nothing. Nagisa’s feet began moving without his knowledge, and somehow, he ended up standing right in front of his stranger and feeling like he could barely breathe. The mask over his nose and mouth was suffocating him.

“Hi,” he said softly, unable to make his voice louder. He was still huffing from the mad dash over.

Nagisa watched as his soulmate’s cheeks became pink, and he beamed at him. He was suddenly filled with the wild urge to throw himself at his stranger and hug him forever, because his display of pure joy and pleasure was killing Nagisa. “Hi,” he replied, sounding equally blown away. The simple greeting made Nagisa feel like exploding from joy.

“I’m Hazuki Nagisa,” he blurted out before he remembered that his soulmate had technically read his blog post and probably went through his entire website, which also meant that he already knew Nagisa’s name. He almost hid his face in his hands out of pure embarrassment, but he resisted the urge and just swallowed. It was too late to take back his words anyway.

If his soulmate had thought it weird for him to introduce himself by name, he didn’t show it. Instead, he just politely said, “Ryuugazaki Rei. It’s nice to finally meet you, Hazuki-san.”

Ryuugazaki Rei.

Nagisa finally had a name to his stranger’s face. Now the urge to hug him was even stronger than before. He even called him “Hazuki-san,” which kind of made it feel like he was his dad but it was still endearing.

He laughed and bounced on his feet. “Rei-chan!” he chirped, shivering happily at how Rei’s name rolled off his tongue. “It’s nice to meet you too! And just call me, ‘Nagisa’!”

“Nagisa,” Rei said, testing his name out just like he had a few seconds ago, and Nagisa almost trilled in joy because of how wonderful it felt to hear his name in Rei’s voice. He hadn’t even tried adding an honorific to it, which Nagisa thought he might have done, considering how polite and formal Rei was. But the lack of an honorific made things feel even more intimate. Like they were dating already. Or maybe they were boyfriends by now. Nagisa wouldn’t mind if they married right on the spot.

He thought Rei looked adorable when he tilted his face toward the floor, as if he was too shy to keep looking at Nagisa. Suddenly, Rei glanced up again and blinked owlishly at him. “Would you like to sit?” he asked. “Have you eaten, or—?”

“Oh! Yeah! I’d—I’d love to sit,” he scrambled to say, a little too lost in Rei’s eyes again. Those were dangerous weapons. Nagisa pulled his duffle bag off and kicked it gently under the table as he took a seat. “And, um, I haven’t really eaten yet. I just got out from work, so….” He began fiddling with his fingers in his lap. He had completely forgotten about even being hungry since he was so happy to meet Rei again.

His pocket started vibrating, and he instinctively pulled his phone out of it. There was a message from Makoto, whom he had totally forgotten about in his excitement.

“Sorry, it’s my manager. Is it okay if I just—?” he asked while holding up his phone.

“Oh, yes, no, of course,” Rei said hurriedly. “Go right ahead. I don’t mind.”

Nagisa flashed him a quick smile—then remembered he was wearing a mask—and then ducked his head to check his phone. His life was a mess.

Nagisa, did you get to the bakery safely?

The message was short and to the point, but something made Nagisa pause as he read it.

Now that he thought about it, Makoto had suggested this very bakery to him earlier when they were still in the studio. He had even told him to hurry, in case the bakery closed before he got there. And then there were those strangely cryptic texts he got from Makoto about Rei’s post while he was in the train.

Things started falling into place within Nagisa’s mind, and his eyes widened. Makoto had known about everything, and he had kept it all a secret from him. He furiously tapped on his screen and typed out a very succinct response.

MAKO-CHAN, YOU SCHEMER. YOU SET ME UP.

Within two seconds—almost as if Makoto had been expecting Nagisa to get angry—he got another text.

I’m sorry!

And then another.

I didn’t mean to keep it a secret from you, I just….

Nagisa put his phone on silent and shoved it back into his pocket. He looked back up cheerfully at Rei and smiled. He hoped Rei could tell he was smiling. “Hi,” he said again brightly.

“Hi…” Rei said back in a cautious tone, and Nagisa squirmed giddily because there it was, the little eyebrow thing Rei did whenever he was thinking. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah! Totally fine. My manager’s just….” He didn’t finish his sentence and waved his hand around vaguely. “Anyway! Um!” he said and leaned forward in his chair. “Happy birthday! It’s today, right? You said so when we first met—and then again in your post,” he sucked in a breath when his heart skipped a beat at the mere remembrance of Rei’s lovely post, “but I wanted to make sure.”

Halfway through his onslaught of half-formed words, Rei had changed his sitting posture so that he was leaning his chin on his hand and gazing at Nagisa fondly, which made Nagisa feel even more flustered.

“Yeah, it’s today,” Rei said with a pleased smile. “Thank you.”

“Yay!” he cheered. “I’m glad I got it right!” Nagisa nearly reached out and took Rei’s hand between his own, a habit he had formed after attending a lot of handshake events for his fans.

Rei must have noticed Nagisa’s weird jerky, half-reach toward him before he flopped his hands down again, because he slid his palm over the surface of the table and pressed their fingertips together. Nagisa saw stars, and his entire body strummed with fire.

“Uhm,” Rei’s muffled voice came to him through his cotton-filled ears, “if you’re hungry, the food here is really good, or…. Or, I think they sell food on the bullet train too, if….” He trailed off then hooked his index finger with Nagisa’s. “My train leaves at 7:05.”

Electrified by the words, because Rei was really actually inviting him out to go stargazing (a point he had completely forgotten), Nagisa pressed his palm against Rei’s and laced all their fingers together. He squeezed Rei’s perfect, beautiful, and warm hand. Heart failure was awaiting him, Nagisa was sure, because it was definitely working way beyond overtime at the moment. His hand was sweaty, but so was Rei’s, and that was all that mattered to him.

“The bento they sell on the bullet trains are really good, and that’s exactly what I’m craving right now,” he said with a playful grin.

Rei looked at him and returned his grin with a brilliant smile of his own.

It was cold outside as they lay together on a nice, grassy hill and looked at the stars, but with a sweater, a jacket, a scarf, gloves, a blanket Makoto had somehow snuck into his bag, and half a dozen heating packs slipped beneath his clothes, Nagisa felt nice and toasty. Especially since Rei had discreetly slipped an arm around him and cuddled him when Nagisa shivered and pointed out how chilly it was. He had quickly taken advantage of Rei’s gentlemanliness and snuggled as close as he could to his side.

The skies were thankfully clear and beautiful, and the stars looked literally within hand’s reach. They had been lying there for at least an hour, just quietly enjoying each other’s presence and warmth and waiting for the next shooting star to pass by. Whenever one did, Nagisa let out an excited cry and jostled Rei gently, asking him, “Did you see that one? It was so big and pretty!”

Every time Nagisa caught sight of a bright, arched light burning across the dark sky, he felt as if it was passing by to grant his wishes. But then again, he thought to himself as he tucked his head under Rei’s chin, he already felt like he had everything he wanted in that very moment.

A sudden thought came to his mind, and he took out his phone. Looking at it would ruin his night vision, he knew, but he just wanted to check the time.

Nagisa made sure to turn away so Rei wouldn’t get blinded and said, “Don’t look over here. I’m gonna use my phone real quick.” He pressed the home button on his phone and winced at how bright the screen was when it came out of sleep.

“Oh,” he said, as he squinted at the time. “There’s only 15 minutes left before your birthday’s over, Rei-chan! We should do something to commemorate!” Nagisa hummed thoughtfully as he tried to think of something that would be worthy of celebrating their first date and Rei’s birthday. “I’ve got it! Okay, hang on for a sec. I need to make a call.”

He hit his first speed dial contact and pressed his phone to his ear. It only rang a few times before the line picked up.

“Nagisa?” Makoto’s worried voice came through. “Are you okay? Did you find your person? You didn’t reply to me after a while, so I got worried, but—”

“Hi, Mako-chan,” he interrupted before Makoto started talking his ear off. “I’m fine, and yeah, I managed to find him! His name is Rei-chan! I’m with him right now in Nagano. We’re watching the stars.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I was afraid that something went wrong. Are you warm enough right now? I packed a blanket into your bag before you left, just in case—”

“We’re fine! I found your blanket. And the box of heat packs you gave me. We’re nice and warm now!”

“Good, good,” Makoto said distractedly. Then, he exploded, as if he could no longer hold himself back. “Nagisa, I really am sorry for keeping all of this a secret from you, but PR had been so upset with us that I knew I’d get in trouble if I tried helping you publicly. That’s why I had to send our social media crew on an undercover mission to find out more information online about Rei-kun! But even before they got too far, we realized his post had gone viral, and—”

“It’s okay, Mako-chan! I forgive you. I was angry at you at first, but you still helped me find Rei-chan, so I’m really glad. Thank you.”

A loud sigh of relief came from Makoto’s side. “Thank goodness! I was worried you might be really upset with me! But you know, you really were lucky to have randomly found Rei-kun’s post online without my help! Or anything! Hahaha! I sure had wanted to help you though! Life sure works in strange ways, huh, Nagisa….”

He giggled and caught on to what Makoto was trying to imply. He would make sure to get Makoto a nice souvenir as a thank-you gift when he got back. Off the record though. “Yeah. I really am lucky.” Nagisa smiled and wiggled closer to Rei. “By the way, Mako-chan, I wanted to ask you a question—I was wondering if it’d be okay if I announced the fact that I found Rei-chan and posted about it on the blog? It’s just going to be a picture and a quick line and stuff.”

“Huh? It’s not going to be anything obscene, is it?”

“Of course not! Who do you take me for?”

“Well, I guess it’ll be fine…. It’s not like the company can do any worse to you. Except actually cancel your live and maybe terminate your contract, but considering how your popularity shot up over the past two days and your fan base expanded, I honestly don’t think that’s an issue. Still, it would be good to—”

“Okay, Mako-chan! Thanks! I’ll see you on Tuesday.” He hung up before Makoto said more and put his phone away. “Phew! Okay,” he turned his attention to Rei, “I got permission from Mako-chan, so let’s take a commemorative picture together!”

He turned his face up, fully expecting to see Rei looking excited about the idea and was met instead with… Nagisa couldn’t see very clearly, since his night vision was shot, but Rei looked distinctly concerned and worried.

“Rei-chan?”

“Uhm, are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked tentatively. “I mean…”

Rei seemed uncomfortable, and Nagisa wasn’t 100 percent sure what was wrong, but he ventured to try anyway. “Don’t worry, Rei-chan. It’ll just be a picture of our hands! See? Like this,” he said, and held his left hand against the sky so that only its silhouette was visible. “I won’t put your name up on the post or anything either. I just want to let my fans know that I found you.” He smiled reassuringly at Rei.

After a second, the doubt in Rei’s expression melted and he smiled back. “Like this?” he asked Nagisa quietly, and held his hand up as well.

Nagisa giggled and nodded. “Like this,” he said, and made a V with his fingers.

To his surprise, instead of copying his peace sign, Rei curled his fingers into a backwards C and asked, with a playful lilt in his voice, “Like this?”

Nagisa almost couldn’t believe Rei was capable of doing something so sappy, but he was Nagisa’s giant, sappy dork, and he loved him. “Just like that,” he said with a grin. He mirrored Rei’s hands and completed the heart. It was just a little lopsided, since his hand was smaller than Rei’s, but that made it look even cuter somehow.

He took his hand away for a second to activate his phone, ruined both their night vision again, and opened up his camera app. Once it was ready, he put his left hand back up and dangled his phone between the fingers of his right.

“Okay, okay,” he mumbled and stuck his tongue out a little as he concentrated on not dropping his phone on his face. It was hard to hit the screen with a finger when all of them were busy holding his cell phone up, but once he managed to get a good angle, he snapped a few dozen pictures. Just in case.

“There,” he said and nodded. “Looks good.”

His attention was drawn away from his phone when he felt Rei slip his fingers between his own and squeezed his hand gently.

“Hey, Nagisa?”

“Hm?” He smiled and looked expectantly at Rei.

Suddenly, soft lips pressed on his, and he became hyperaware of what was happening. Rei was kissing him. This was their first kiss, on their first date, on their technically first day of really knowing each other, and—

Nagisa closed his eyes and gripped Rei’s hand back, tilting his face closer to him and molded his lips gently against Rei’s. The response he received was tentative, but it still made his heart pound and every fiber of him feel electrified. Nagisa tried to lean in closer and match Rei’s movements, but he was still too busy marveling at the fact that they were kissing. Rei was so gentle with him, it was as if he was savoring every bit of their kiss. He felt so treasured and loved.

The moment passed quicker than he had hoped, but when he opened his eyes and saw Rei looking at him with a glazed expression, he found himself void of complaints. Rei’s sweet look lasted for a split second before it was broken with something like doubt.

“Was that…” he started asking, then glanced down at Nagisa’s lips, as if he couldn’t resist them, “is this oka—”

Nagisa didn’t even let him finish before he rushed forward again and pressed their mouths together more firmly than before. He wanted to tell Rei that it was so okay, but his impatience got the better of him. Rei looked too cute and sincere not to kiss, so Nagisa went for it.

He liked the little noise of surprise Rei probably unconsciously let out. Nagisa smiled and softly licked Rei’s bottom lip with the tip of his tongue. The gesture made Rei gasp, and the sound made a spark of warmth bloom in Nagisa’s chest. Immediately afterwards, he felt Rei’s lips part for him, and Nagisa gently slipped his tongue into his mouth. He shivered at how warm Rei’s mouth was and let out a half-hum, half-whine.

Nagisa sucked in a shallow breath when Rei’s tongue touched his. It felt good, just kissing languidly like that. He liked how Rei licked into his mouth and twined their tongues together, letting Nagisa taste just a bit of the mint candy he had eaten after dinner. It was sweet—both the taste of mint and their kiss, and Nagisa felt so happy and warm.

Giddiness rose in his chest like champagne bubbles, and he began giggling. He broke away from their kiss and hummed contentedly. Then, he pecked Rei on the lips one last time and said, “That was very okay.” He squeezed Rei’s hand and hugged him the best he could while they lay there. “Happy birthday, Rei-chan,” Nagisa whispered into his neck, just loudly for Rei to hear, and squeezed their hands together.

At 12:47 a.m. on Tuesday, December 15, Nagisa’s blog updated with a simple picture of two hands outlined against a starry sky and captioned with the single line, “I found him! ♡”