Chapter Text
December 24, 2024
1600
The scent of fried batter, miso paste and the ocean filled the air, overwhelming Kazuha’s sensitive nose. His kitchen, normally kept pristine and organised, the various herbs, spirces and condiments ordered neatly by flavour profile, now had bottles of varying sizes scattered haphazardly around the counter.
His trusty bottle of pink salt, the one that never left his side from the moment he had obtained it from a particularly charismatic shopkeeper on his first visit to the People of the Springs, fell unceremoniously onto the floor, turning the unblemished tiles into a canvas for what looked like an impressionist’s attempt at capturing the beauty of Sakura petals on snow. But even that was not enough to tear Kazuha’s attention from the task at hand.
He wielded the chopsticks as if they were an extension of his fingers, deftly dipping the prawns into the tempura batter and frying them in the pot of heated oil. To the left of the pot sat a tray of already fried tempura, oil dripping down onto the paper towel below. Somewhere behind Kazuha, on the other counter, his rice cooker dinged. Without lifting the prawn from the oil, Kazuha reached for the rice cooker and switched it to ‘keep warm’ mode.
It was already four in the afternoon, and he still had two more dishes to make (and a kitchen to clean up) before he could get ready for his date. Clearly, he had underestimated the time needed to make an entire feast from scratch. Kazuha didn’t let himself linger for too long on such unproductive thoughts, though. What’s done is done. His boyfriend had been visibly moody recently, and between putting together the perfect meal to cheer his boyfriend up and cheapening out with some shitty takeout, the choice was insultingly easy.
Once the tempura was done, Kazuha dumped out the tempura oil and replaced it with sesame oil. He dipped his chopsticks into the pot, and when it began bubbling, in went the chicken. Somewhere along the way, he vaguely registered his clock chiming, but he was almost done, anyway.
The karaage now fried to perfection, he turned his stove off and finally allowed himself a moment to relax… until he registered the absolute mess that was his beloved kitchen and fought the urge to scream at his past self.
Oh well. Self-recrimination can wait. Wanderer comes first.
He moved all the dishes to the dining table outside and with a sigh, started the lengthy process of cleaning up.
1800
“Sorry, sorry! Did I keep you waiting long?” Kazuha managed to squeeze out the words between heavy pants, his hands flying up to tame the ends of his hair that refused to obey the laws of physics.
“No, I just got here,” his boyfriend’s dulcet tone carried a hint of amusement and something he couldn’t quite identify. Ruby met sapphire, and suddenly Kazuha forgot how to breathe. Wanderer was wearing an elegant white shirt that clung to his lithe frame snugly, and a matching pair of shorts that showed off his toned calves. His porcelain face, usually already so perfect in its doll-like beauty, somehow seemed even more ethereal thanks to the eyeshadow and blush applied to it
So it *is* possible to go beyond perfection, the tiny part of Kazuha’s brain that still retained higher order thinking mused. The rest of him, however, was gone. Consumed by the beauty of the boy before him, his wildest desires come to life. Driven by pure instinct, Kazuha leaned forwards and captured Wanderer’s lips in a soft, sweet kiss.
“…as much as I enjoyed that, we should get going,” a slight tremor betrayed Wanderer’s embarrassment.
Seems like his boyfriend’s still not used to public displays of affection, Kazuha thought. Adorable.
“It’s getting dark and I’m famished.”
“Alright,” Kazuha reached out and intertwined his fingers with Wanderer’s, his hand easily enveloping his boyfriend’s smaller palm. “Shall we?”
Wanderer briefly squirmed as their hands made contact, turning away momentarily as if to hide his flushed cheeks, visible even under his makeup. But that very action briefly exposed more of the milky skin of his neck to Kazuha’s gaze, and for the first half of the walk back to his apartment, all Kazuha could think about was what it would feel like to taste it, and what kind of sounds his boyfriend would make if he gave in to his desires right then.
The mutual silence was broken halfway through, when they turned out of the city center into the quiet suburbs.
“We’re not going to a restaurant?”
“No,” Kazuha replied, his fingers caressing the back of the other boy’s hand. “We’re not. We’re going to my place.”
Wanderer’s breath hitched audibly, and his hand grew warmer in Kazuha’s firm grip. “Your place? You… are you sure it’s okay? Didn’t you just move in?”
“I moved in a while ago, and yes, I’m sure. Why wouldn’t I want to share my space with you?”
“…oh,” Wanderer’s voice trailed softly off into the distance. “…I… I didn’t bring anything—“
“—you don’t need to. Your presence is a housewarming gift all on its own.”
Wanderer’s breath hitched again, this time accompanied by a quiet whimper. The desire to embrace his boyfriend welled up again, but Kazuha fought it back down. There would be plenty of time for that at home.
“Come on. We’re almost there.”
The two lovebirds spent the rest of the walk in comfortable silence. The hustle and bustle of the city, the voices of the shopkeepers shouting their unbeatable prices into the streets all failed to register. To Kazuha and Wanderer, the only thing that existed, the only thing that was real and relevant, was the warmth of the other’s hand in theirs and the promise of spending the night in each other’s company.
Kazuha fished out his keys when his apartment finally came into view, his white cat keychain jingling melodiously as it bumped into the door.
“Come on in, make yourself at home,” Kazuha held the door open for his boyfriend to enter first.
“…ojamashimasu.”
Kazuha couldn’t help but watch, transfixed, as Wanderer moved with effortless grace, gently taking a seat at the dining table and placing his hands in his lap. The two had been dating for months now, and they’ve been friends for even longer, but Kazuha had never quite gotten used to how his boyfriend made the most inane of actions look effortlessly elegant. Once, when they were eating at their favourite hole-in-the-wall curry place near the Akademiya, Kazuha caught Wanderer wiping his lips a tad slower than usual. He thought nothing of it then, but as he got up to pay, he glanced behind him and saw Wanderer quietly dispose of his napkin, which held a fish bone within. Since then, Kazuha began taking note of his boyfriend’s refined movements. He was a poet, after all, trained to recognise and appreciate art when he saw it. And to his endless elation, his boyfriend was art personified.
(He refused to acknowledge the whispers in his head, wondering how the indigo-haired boy would react if he were to worship him the way he so desperately wanted to. Would he maintain his control, his elegance? Or would he give into Kazuha’s touch, his red lips parting as sweet sounds of pleasure broke out from within? The urge to break Wanderer’s unbreakable facade got harder to suppress with each passing day, but Kazuha was nothing if not stubbornly chivalrous.)
“I’ll bring out the food. I hope you’re in the mood for Inazuman fare.”
Wanderer immediately got up to help, but Kazuha’s firm hands on his shoulders prevented him from leaving the chair. Kazuha leaned over the top of Wanderer’s head and gently kissed his forehead. “No, you sit here and relax, okay? You’ve had a long day. Leave it to me.”
“…alright,” came the reluctant reply. “Thank you. But I insist on helping the next time.”
“Then next time, we can cook together, too.”
A few minutes later, a veritable feast was spread out on the dining table. There was the prawn and vegetable tempura that Wanderer had briefly mentioned missing in passing conversation a few dates ago, the yuzu ochazuke that was Wanderer’s favourite dish, and even the Tatarasuna-style oden that Wanderer had been secretly craving.
“You made all of this… for us?” Wanderer’s voice came out strangled, as if overwhelmed.
“For you,” Kazuha corrected gently, reaching over to pat his boyfriend’s head. “You’ve been stressed lately, haven’t you?”
“Huh? Oh, well— in a sense, yes, but you didn’t have to—“
“—I don’t do things out of obligation, love. I do them because—“
“—you want to, yes, I remember, but this… this must’ve taken you the whole day!”
“…uh, maybe?” Kazuha rubbed his head sheepishly. “But it was worth every second. Merry christmas, love.”
In a single, desperate motion, Wanderer stood up and pulled Kazuha’s head across the dining table, crashing their lips together. Kazuha’s eyes widened briefly, not expecting his boyfriend’s uncharacteristically bold move, but he instinctively reciprocated, their lips dancing in unison. It didn’t take long for Wanderer to open his lips, inviting Kazuha’s tongue to wrestle with his own. Eventually, the need for air broke them apart, though their breaths remained synchronised for a while longer.
“…I love you,” Kazuha was the first to break the silence, the words slipping out of his lips like a vow unbidden. Wanderer’s reply came later, quieter but no less sincere. “I love you too.”
The two took a moment to stare into each other’s eyes before returning to their seats, but after the intimate moment they just shared, even the dining table separating them seemed like too far an expanse. Kazuha picked up his chair and moved it next to Wanderer, briefly placing his hand on top of the other boy’s as if to reassure him, I’m here.
“Please, try some of the oden. It’s my first time making it Tatarasuna-style, but I hope it’s to your liking,” Kazuha picked up a piece of daikon and held it to his boyfriend’s lips. “Say ah.”
Several emotions flashed across Wanderer’s face — Kazuha caught hints of surprise and embarrassment before it settled onto a gentle, persistent happiness, and his boyfriend finally opened his mouth with a reluctant ‘ah’.
“…it tastes just like how I remember it,” Wanderer’s eyes met Kazuha’s again, and the sheer gratitude and love Kazuha saw shining in his boyfriend’s eyes compelled him to embrace the other boy again.
“I’m glad,” was what Kazuha meant to say, but somehow, what slipped out from his lips was “…stay the night, please?”
Oh shit, Kazuha froze, internally screaming at himself for making such a selfish request when they’ve only been dating for a few months. What if Wanderer thought it was too soon? What if this made him feel uncomfortable to be around Kazuha? What if—
“Of course. If you’ll have me.”
The lack of hesitation and the gleam of something intense in Wanderer’s eye shut Kazuha’s anxious thoughts down at its source, leaving him smiling foolishly like a lovestruck idiot (which, to be fair, has perhaps been the most accurate description of him since he first met the indigo-haired boy years ago).
“I’ll go prepare a set of yukatas for you, then! Stay put, alright?” Kazuha gave Wanderer a chaste kiss on the cheek before leaving for his bedroom to calm his wildly beating heart down.
Archons, that was close, Kazuha thought as the door closed behind him, the thin layer of wood acting as the last layer of defense between Wanderer and Kazuha’s suppressed desires. Archons… his boyfriend was too pretty for his heart. And now, thanks to his big mouth, he’d have to spend the night sleeping next to him… Kazuha wasn’t sure if he was strong enough to resist touching him, to finally worship the indigo-haired boy and show him just how crazy his mere presence drove him.
…but more than anything, Kazuha wanted to respect Wanderer’s boundaries. And if it meant holding back his urge to claim the sapphire eyed boy as his own, in every sense of the word… then Kazuha would do so. Even if it meant that he probably wasn’t going to be able to get any sleep that night.
2000
The rest of dinner went by in a flash, Kazuha too focused on Wanderer’s every move, the slightest upturn of his lips, the quiet flashes of appreciation for the food, to remember the taste of his own cooking. And as Wanderer took the final sip of his cup of matcha, Kazuha tapped into his years of etiquette training and ushered his boyfriend into the bathroom.
“Please, go take a bath first. I’ll wash the dishes. I’ll leave your yukata here.”
A flash of something — disappointment, perhaps? — appeared on Wanderer’s face, disappearing too quickly for Kazuha to say for sure it wasn’t just his imagination. Before he could even think to ask his boyfriend about it, Wanderer nodded gracefully, a quick “thank you” slipping out of his lips before he closed the bathroom door on Kazuha.
Before long, Wanderer emerged in Kazuha’s spare yukata, the garment one size too big for the smaller boy — and yet it was exactly the overhanging sleeves and the way the yukata was too loose to completely hide Wanderer’s tantalising pale neck that shortcircuited Kazuha’s brain, his last coherent thought being, ‘I wonder… if I tiptoe, could I see even farther down his body?’
(Later that night, as Kazuha lay in bed next to Wanderer, that same thought would cross his mind once more and his cheeks would turn as red as his eyes before he spent the next hour berating himself for even daring to think of his pure, precious boyfriend in such a dirty way.)
“Thank you for the bath,” Kazuha’s brain was restarted by the sound of the voice that accompanied him in his dreams every night. “It was lovely.”
“N-no problem,” Kazuha stammered, trying his best not to make it obvious that he was ogling the other boy. “I’ll… I’ll go take a bath now. Feel free to peruse any of the books lying around.”
Kazuha made a hasty retreat into the bathroom, feeling his blood rushing south even as he closed the door behind him. He was never more thankful that he never made the switch from his usual hakama to the slim pants that was all the rage here in Sumeru, even as the heat and the humidity forced him to wash the garment every night. He quickly freed himself from his clothes, the usually comfortable fabric feeling stiflingly hot against his skin right now. His cock sprang free from the confines of his hakama, the tip already dripping with the translucent proof of his arousal.
Kazuha groaned, half in embarrassment and half out of pure need. This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go. It was supposed to be all about Wanderer, about cheering him up, about making him feel loved… and here was Kazuha, overwhelmed by his lust for his boyfriend. Kazuha felt a stab of guilt that was quickly drowned out by the memory of how… delectable Wanderer looked in his clothes.
With a sigh, his right hand slipped down to stroke his long cock, his eyelids automatically fluttering closed as he imagined Wanderer kneeling before him, touching him… his boyfriend’s beautiful, pert lips wrapped around his length, his clever mouth taking all of him in… Kazuha let out an involuntary moan, his hand speeding up as his fantasies became more detailed. The scent of vanilla, pinecones and fresh snow, the smooth feel of his boyfriend’s skin on his, the sound of his sweet moans…
Oh, how he would love to see Wanderer come undone beneath him. Would Wanderer beg and grovel for his mercy, for his touch? Or would he be so overwhelmed with the sensations that Kazuha brought him, that all he could do was whimper and moan unintelligibly? As Kazuha continued to touch himself, his brain conjured up wild images of Wanderer lying beneath him on his bed, ass pointed up, his fingers spreading his hole wide open invitingly for Kazuha…
“Fuck,” Kazuha groaned. “Wanderer…,” he was so close. This wasn’t the first time he was touching himself to the thought of the sapphire eyed boy waiting for him outside, of course, but he had never done it with the object of his desire just mere feet away before. The thrill of getting caught added a dangerously addictive edge to the experience, and Kazuha was sent hurtling towards the edge faster than he usually did.
Kazuha found himself the captive audience as his subconscious continued directing the lewdest scenes straight out of his wildest fantasies. Kazuha imagined Wanderer covering his face with his hands, embarrassed and overwhelmed with pleasure as Kazuha pounded into him… he imagined his boyfriend’s reluctant gasps of pleasure devolving into shaky moans and desperate shrieks, the indigo-haired boy’s hands falling to his sides as he lost the ability to control them in the face of Kazuha’s relentless assaults… Kazuha’s name falling from Wanderer’s lips like a prayer as the smaller boy climaxed in his arms, his body shuddering involuntarily…
“Wanderer… Wanderer…, fuck, I’m—!” Before long, Kazuha felt the pressure that had been building up deep within him break him open, his release exploding like a bomb with his cock as its epicenter. His imagination carried on working overtime, painting an obscene picture of Wanderer’s face, the milky white skin of his chest and flat stomach, the softening cock between his soft thighs all getting coated with Kazuha’s thick, creamy cum as he rode the waves of his climax all the way back to reality.
Now completely spent, the image of a completely debauched Wanderer lying beneath him slipped away and he opened his eyes to the reality of his pearl white bathtub now splattered with the evidence of his misdeeds.
With a self-reproachful sigh, Kazuha turned the water on and washed the bathtub clean. With the reminder of his momentary loss of self-control now gone, he took a deep breath, held on to the thought of Wanderer waiting for him outside, and started washing his body.
“I’m out, love,” Kazuha declared as he stepped back out into the living room, now dressed in his yukata, a matching set with the one that Wanderer was wearing.
…it definitely looks better on him than it does on me, Kazuha noted absentmindedly as his eyes landed on his boyfriend, sitting elegantly on the couch with his back towards the bathroom.
“Love? You okay?” Kazuha asked gently, leaning over the couch to surprise Wanderer with a kiss, when he noticed that the other boy was already fast asleep. Chuckling softly to himself, Kazuha lifted Wanderer into his arms, holding him snugly to his chest as he carried him into his bedroom before laying him down carefully on his bed. He tucked the indigo-haired boy into the duvet before slipping underneath the sheets himself.
He looks so pretty like this, Kazuha thought, feeling a wave of love and protectiveness wash over him. So peaceful, so serene, so… innocent. Archons… I love him.
Kazuha draped an arm across his sleeping boyfriend’s stomach protectively, snuggling into his side as he whispered, “good night, love. I’ll see you in my dreams.”
December 25, 2024
1000
Kazuha woke up to an empty bed. Shrugging off the flash of loneliness that hit him, he fought a yawn as he stretched and got off the bed.
“Love? You there?” Kazuha left the bedroom in search of his boyfriend.
“In here,” the soothing sound of his boyfriend’s voice came from the bathroom. “I’m taking a bath. Did I wake you?”
“N-no, no,” Kazuha hastily backtracked, his back hitting the wall just as images of his boyfriend, naked in his bathroom, his hands roaming all over his pretty, perfect body came to mind unbidden. “I was already awake. I’ll get started on breakfast, then.”
Breakfast was, unlike the intimate dinner the two had shared just hours ago, an awkward affair. The images of a showering Wanderer resurfaced every time his eyes met his boyfriend’s, along with the now-familiar guilt that always accompanied such… lewd thoughts, and so Kazuha kept his eyes firmly on his bowl of rice. For better or for worse, Wanderer didn’t seem to be in a speaking mood, either, for he kept his gaze down, too. Though that was worrying in and of itself — was his boyfriend feeling down again?
“…is something wrong?” Kazuha asked hesitantly, forcing his eyes to meet his boyfriend’s.
“…no, not at all. Why do you ask?”came the overly cheerful reply.
Ah. So something was wrong, then. But Kazuha knew better than to push. He’d just have to try to cheer his boyfriend up again, do better this time. And thankfully, he already had an idea how…
“…hey, are you free this weekend?”
“…hm? I am, but why?” Wanderer’s gaze turned inquisitive.
“I, uh… I booked a vacation. For the two of us. If you don’t mind… would you come with me?”
Wanderer’s face brightened almost immediately, the false cheer from before quickly giving way to a genuine mix of elation and surprise.
“I’d love to.”