Prince, Crush Crush on You

Title: Crush Crush on You [Jinguji/Genki]
Rating/Warnings: Hard R, school setting
Summary: Jinguji has a genius plan to protect Genki now that they’re going to school together, and there’s definitely no way it can backfire even a little.
AN: Written for JE United exchange. Slight AU; Genki graduated from a different high school than Jinguji attends in reality, but I couldn’t give up the entertainment value of the “fake relationship turns real” premise once pandaiwahashi asked for it. I hope you like it!

Crush Crush on You

“Well?” Genki asked, standing awkwardly in his new uniform jacket. “How is it?”

“It suits you,” Jinguji assured, grinning. “Plus, now we match! That’s a definite plus. You get to look just as sexy as me.”

“Jin-chan!” Genki rolled his eyes, but Jinguji was glad to see that he smiled a little too. Switching schools was hard enough mid-year, but this had to be better than the alternative. It was nothing like his middle school years, but Jinguji knew that Genki didn’t really have any close school friends still, and once their schedules had started getting busier and busier, Genki simply couldn’t keep up with the workload and absences any longer.

During his last exam period, Genki had melted down completely. Jinguji had found him face-down on one of the low table backstage, books and notes covering the whole tabletop, sobbing uncontrollably. At first Jinguji had been afraid the bullying had started up again, but no, it was only stress and frustration. When Genki’s parents had put their foot down and transferred him to Horikoshi, Jinguji had been even more relieved than he was happy. Horikoshi had plenty of people Genki already knew, a lot more flexibility, and Jinguji could keep a much closer eye on Genki there.

Genki was predictably nervous as they came through the gates on his first day, but Jinguji strolled along calling hello cheerfully to everyone he knew as they passed. Many of them said hello to Genki as well as Jinguji, and Genki’s shoulders had eased out of their defensive hunch by the time Jinguji walked him to his classroom.

“You don’t have to drop me off,” Genki protested weakly. “It’s not my first day of kindergarten or something.”

“Uh-huh, yeah,” Jinguji said, ignoring Genki’s words. He leaned into the classroom, searching for somebody he thought could be trusted. “Oi, Suzuki-kun! This is Iwahashi-kun. Take care of him, huh?” Jinguji gave Genki a push into the room. “If anybody gives you any trouble, tell me and I’ll take care of it.”

“You’re an underclassman, what are you going to do about it?” Genki snapped, flustered. Jinguji just flashed him a reassuring grin and patted his shoulder before strolling out to go to his own homeroom, calling over his shoulder that he’d be back at lunch.

Things were quiet for a few days, Genki settling in as well as could be expected mid-year, but he sounded cautiously optimistic when he talked to Jinguji about his classmates. Jinguji came to pick up Genki for lunch and at the end of the day, assuming both of them were in school and not absent for work.

By the end of the week, however, they had a chance run-in with some guys from the sports section that set Jinguji’s teeth on edge. A group of three of them was loitering in the hallway, one of them tossing a soccer ball between his hands, apparently waiting for a friend to come out of one of the classrooms. Jinguji had stepped around them casually on the way to Genki’s classroom, only giving them half a side-eye when one of them finished a dirty joke that made the other two guffaw loudly.

“Oi, ready to go?” Jinguji called, leaning in the doorway and scanning the room for Genki.

“In a minute,” Genki said, holding up a distracted hand to cat-paw wave Jinguji in. He was at his desk, a classmate’s notebook spread out next to his own, copying notes over carefully. “I have to give Hiraka-kun his notebook back before I go.”

Jinguji shuffled in to chat with the guys hanging around the windows for a few minutes, giving Genki an encouraging pat on the shoulder as he walked by. Genki’s brow was knit in concentration, but no trace of panic or upset, Jinguji noticed. Eventually Genki straightened up and stretched, then turned to give Jinguji a smile, ready to go.

Out in the hallway, the soccer trio were still hanging around, laughing at whatever, and Jinguji still was sparing them only half of his attention until the ball slipped out of the center guy’s hands. He went chasing after it, his friends hooting and pointing, and nearly slammed right into Genki and Jinguji.

“Oi!” Jinguji said sharply. “Watch it!”

“Geez, relax,” the guy said, setting Jinguji’s teeth on edge. He straightened up, ball resting against his hip. “Oh hey, it’s the new guy, right? The transfer?”

“Yeah…” Genki said, stepping ever so slightly behind Jinguji. The other two soccer players came to peer over his shoulder at the trouble.

“Iwahashi-kun?” one of the other guys asked, peering more closely. “Oh shit, it’s really you!”

“Hello,” Genki said, and Jinguji felt him stiffen up immediately, his discomfort obvious.

“I used to go to middle school with this guy!” the guy continued, which explained a lot about how Genki was edging more fully behind Jinguji, looking down at the floor and letting his hair hang in his eyes. “Surprised to see you slumming it here. Our Iwa-chan always was a bit of a princess, as you can see.” He reached out as if to tug at Genki’s hair, and Jinguji’s slapped his hand down. Everyone stared at him in surprise.

“First of all,” Jinguji cut in coldly, “it’s Iwahashi-kun to you. Secondly, he isn’t your anything.”

“Jin-chan!” Genki hissed, tugging on the back of Jinguji’s blazer, but Jinguji was too far gone to listen. Something about Genki’s palpable fear and the casual way this guy thought he could put his hands on Genki sent Jinguji into action without a second thought.

“Oh yeah?” the guy asked, raising an eyebrow. “Sounds like jealousy. Maybe he’s yours?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact he is,” Jingjui announced, mouth running without any input from his brain. Reaching down to grab Genki’s hand, Jinguji laced their fingers together and squeezed tightly. Beside him, Genki’s mouth was a perfect O of shock. “This guy is my boyfriend, so just keep your hands off him. If you’ve got something to say to him, you can take it up with me!”

Without waiting for any response, Jinguji shouldered past the three of them and marched down the hallway, dragging Genki along with him. He walked on auto-pilot, still furious, and his brain didn’t clear until he’d gone up the entire staircase and they were standing on the top landing. Genki was still staring at Jinguji in shock, and guilt started to creep in, burning off some Jinguji’s anger.

“Sorry,” he said, cheeks heating up. “I didn’t think, I just said all that stuff. Are you really mad?”

“N-no…” Genki looked down at where their hands were still joined. Blushing harder, Jinguji dropped Genki’s hand. “It’s okay. I was just surprised. Because you aren’t…you know. Like me.”

Jinguji shrugged. It was true; he liked girls, and Genki had clearly been gay for as long as Jinguji had known him. Jinguji had been sure about that before even Genki himself had been ready to admit it. “I don’t care what they think. He was one of those guys, right? Who used to shove you around? Ugh, I should have punched him right in the face!” Some of the anger crept back in, making Jinguji curl his hands into fists.

“It’s fine.” Genki put his hand on Jinguji’s arm, and Jinguji relaxed a little. “You shouldn’t do that kind of thing for me. I’ll tell people that it’s a mistake, that you aren’t really—”

“Oh shut up, leave it,” Jinguji said, waving Genki off. Genki blinked at him. “Listen, I’m popular enough and have enough older friends that nobody hassles me much. You’re already a second year. If it’ll help you out, let them think what they want. It’s not like I can date random girls anyway because of work, so what’s the difference? If I can protect you, then I want to.”

Genki frowned. “But…”

“But what? Is there somebody you like or something?” Jinguji crossed his arms. “There isn’t, right?”

“No.” Genki shook his head.

“Good. We’re together practically all the time anyway, it’ll be totally believable.” Jinguji held out his hand. “So go out with me, okay? Let’s be fake boyfriends.”

Genki gave Jinguji a shy smile and took his hand just long enough to squeeze it. “All right. Please take care of me, then.”

“Definitely.”

The first week went by without a hitch because, as Jinguji had pointed out, they already saw each other more often than most normal high school couples could ever manage. Jinguji still came to pick up Genki after class, they still ate lunch together, and left school together nearly every day, whether they were headed to one of their houses or work. Jinguji made something of a show of putting an arm around Genki’s shoulders or taking his hand if he saw somebody looking, but even that wasn’t that strange for either close friends or Johnny’s talents.

Plus Genki blushed cutely the first bunch of times Jinguji did it, which Jinguji found intensely adorable.

“Nice,” Jinguji leaned down to murmur in Genki’s ear the second or third time it happened. “Your cute blush makes this look totally real.”

“I’m not doing it on purpose just to please you!” Genki snapped, blushing even harder. “Everyone’s looking!”

“They’re jealous,” Jinguji said smugly, tugging Genki in just that much closer against his side. He winked at the pair of girls watching them, making them both look away, flustered. “They should be. You’re dating the sexiest guy in the building. Plus you’re prettier than them anyway.”

“Jin-chaaaan,” Genki wailed, burying his face in his hands. Even though he was whining in mortification, Jinguji saw the hint of a smile at the corner of Genki’s mouth peeking between his fingers, and that was enough for Jinguji.

Of course the rumor of their ‘relationship’ spread to work quickly enough, since they went to Horikoshi after all, but Jinguji found he didn’t care much about that either. If they didn’t make it believable in both places then there was no point in doing it at all, Jinguji decided. None of their friends said anything besides congratulations and a few “that’s what I thought,” which made Genki frown a little. If some of the younger juniors gave them strange looks, well, Jinguji figured, it’s a new era and all of that. Better someone teach them now that when you were surrounded by dudes covered in feathers and glitter, only a moron would think that some of them didn’t like other dudes.

Jinguji did worry a little that younger juniors might start coming to him for advice about their own strange puberty feelings, but Genki said not to worry; not even trainees were dumb enough to come to Jinguji for life advice.

“Well,” Genki amended. “Maybe Hirano is. But he’s got Sakuma-kun for that.”

During the second week, when Genki was leaning against Jinguji’s desk, waiting for him to get a move on already, one of Jinguji’s classmates strolled up to challenge them, one hand on her plaid-skirted hip and the other holding up a copy of Myojo that had come out a couple days ago.

“This is just some crazy fan-service act, right?” she asked without preamble. “You two. It’s not a real thing. It’s just like in this magazine, some thing to make dumb girls shriek about you.” The page she was holding up was their pair shot for the month, their arms around each other’s waists, Genki snuggled in tight against Jinguji’s chest, Jinguji’s chin resting on Genki’s head.

Genki glanced down at Jinguji nervously, but Jinguji folded his arms and looked her in the eye. “Wrong! Girls absolutely shriek about us, and I can’t blame them. But it’s real, all right. Why? Don’t you think we look good together?”

“No way,” she said. “That guy I believe,” she jerked a thumb towards Genki, making Genki frown, “but not you.”

Jinguji shrugged. “Shows what you know.”

“Prove it. Kiss him.” She folded her arms too, smirking down at Jinguji.

Something about the way she was so smug, so sure he wouldn’t do it, got right under Jinguji’s skin. Standing up, Jinguji grabbed Genki’s tie so that he couldn’t escape and leaned in. He had just enough to time to see Genki’s wide, panicked eyes, before he pressed his mouth firmly over top of Genki’s. He took his time about it, even though Genki was frozen against him and decidedly not kissing back, before he pulled back and turned just his head to raise an eyebrow.

“So?” Jinguji asked his classmate, thumb rubbing the slick fabric of Genki’s tie idly. “Guess you don’t have much of a sense for these things.”

Giving an irritated click of her tongue, the girl turned on her heel and strode back to her friends.

Genki tugged himself out of Jinguji’s grip, cheeks pink and eyes flashing. He hissed, “What did you do that for?!”

Without waiting for an answer, he gave Jinguji a rough shove to force him back a step, then stomped off. Jinguji hollered for him to wait, geez, and shoved his stuff into his school bag as fast as he could before jogging to catch up.

“Aw, Genki, calm down!” Jinguji said once he’d caught up, having to trot a little to keep up with Genki’s quick step. “What are you so mad about? It was just a kiss.”

“In front of your whole class!” Genki snapped.

“Either you want them to believe it or you don’t! Will you stop?” Jinguji caught at Genki’s arm, dragging him to a halt. “Are you really angry with me?”

“YES,” Genki said, yanking his arm away and crossing his arms tightly against his chest. “Kind of. I don’t know. You scared me.”

“I’m sorry,” Jinguji apologized, and he meant it. He didn’t want Genki to be uncomfortable, he’d just wanted that girl to see that they could be a couple just fine, magazine or not. He nudged Genki with an elbow, trying to make him smile. “It wasn’t a very good first kiss for us, was it?”

“No, it wasn’t,” Genki sniffed. His posture relaxed a little, making it so that Jinguji felt safe pressing a little more.

“We can’t have that. We’ve got to have a romantic first kiss story,” Jinguji said, glancing around. He tugged Genki a few steps further down the hall with his hand on Genki’s elbow, so that they were in front of one of the big windows overlooking the courtyard. The sky was blue and the sun was glittering against the glass, and there wasn’t anybody else in the hallway at the moment. “Here’s good, right? It’s pretty.”

The corner of Genki’s mouth twitched. “It’s okay, I guess.”

“Yeah, but,” Jinguji reached up to cup Genki’s cheek with his palm and leaned in to whisper, “not as pretty as you.”

“Stop that,” Genki said, but he didn’t move away from Jinguji’s grip.

He waited just long enough to see Genki’s blush spread over his nose before leaning in for their second kiss, which they were totally going to claim as their first one. He made sure this one was sweet and slow, and he only worried a little that Genki was going to slap him right across the face as soon as he pulled back.

When the kiss broke naturally, Genki did not slap him. They blinked at each other from almost too close.

“That was a lot better,” Genki finally said, quietly, as if there was some reason to whisper. “As a story, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Jinguji agreed. Feeling suddenly awkward, he shouldered his bag with one hand. “Come on, let’s go. We’ll be late to work.”

Genki fell into step beside him, and Jinguji didn’t think there was anything strange about the fact that Genki’s hand slid into his after a few seconds, the brush of their shoulders almost routine by then.

It wasn’t until a few hours later that the panic set in. One minute Jinguji was daydreaming about getting nikuman after practice, which led to thinking about how cute Genki was nibbling on nikuman when it was too hot, which led to thinking about how soft and warm Genki’s lips had been against his. Next time Jinguji thought the stairwell might be better, since it was slightly more private, and if he kabedonned Genki it would definitely make him blush even more cutely, and then Jinguji could lean him up against the wall and…

“Shit,” Jinguji cursed suddenly, making Kishi look over at him with a raised eyebrow. What had he even just been thinking about?! “Shit shit shit—”

“You okay, man?” Kishi asked.

“YES,” Jinguji blurted. “Nothing’s wrong, I just remembered something! That I did! I mean, that I forgot to do…” Jinguji trailed off as Kishi continued to stare at him evenly. Jinguji gave him a patented Jinguji reassuring smile. “Haha, never mind.”

“Whenever you make that face, ‘never mind’ actually means ‘it’s an emergency,'” Kishi pointed out gently. “Do you want to talk about it? It’s okay if it has to do with Genki.”

“Why would it have to do with Genki?” Jinguji asked, his smile freezing up.

“Because you’re dating him.” Kishi looked Jinguji over more carefully. “Right?”

“Right! Yes! I am definitely dating that guy!” Jinguji gave himself a shake. Was he stupid or something, almost blowing their secret because it was going too well?

“Also Genki hasn’t stopped blushing all afternoon,” Kishi added. “Did you guys get to third base or something?” Jinguji opened his mouth, but no sound came out, brain suddenly frozen on a half-open image of what Genki might look like at any base higher than hand-holding. “You’re just being really weird, so it must be something.”

“I…” Jinguji’s gaze dropped to his shoes. Having this conversation with Kishi was a little awkward, but Kishi was a nice guy, and recently they’d become something pretty close to friends. Jinguji thought trusting him at least this far was fine. “I think I really like him. You know, like him.”

“That’s normal!” Kishi slapped Jinguji on the back, then left his arm across Jinguji’s shoulders supportively. Jinguji blinked at him, not expecting that opinion from Kishi at all. “Since you’re dating, I mean. You should like each other, right? Isn’t that the point?”

Somehow that didn’t exactly make Jinguji feel better. “When you say it like that…”

“Don’t fight with him, okay?” Kishi said, giving Jinguji a last pat on the back before the choreographer called that break was over. “You guys are cute, so you shouldn’t fight. Well, more than usual, I guess.”

Jinguji managed to keep the frown off of his face as he walked back to his start position, but it was hard. Something about Kishi’s words were making the knot in his stomach roll even more unpleasantly.

“Hey,” Genki leaned over to hiss, and when Jinguji looked at him, Genki’s eyes were narrow. “I saw that. What was Kishi touching you like that for?”

“What?” Jinguji didn’t recognize the expression on Genki’s face for a split second, but when he did, it made him grin. “You aren’t jealous, are you? Of Kishi?”

“NO,” Genki announced, turning to glare towards the front. “Shut up, you’re distracting me.”

Genki was jealous. Genki was jealous and glaring at the mirror in front of them as if Jinguji totally couldn’t see that, puffing out his cheeks in irritation as he snuck looks at Jinguji’s reflection. Every time it happened, the warm spot in Jinguji’s chest got bigger, and the knot in his stomach pulled tighter.

Genki was jealous, and Jinguji really, really liked it.

“SHIT,” Jinguji said to nobody in particular, and then because it made everybody look at him, he faked a trip and fell in a heap on the ground as an excuse for the cursing. “I’m okay! Nobody worry!”

“Tcht, nobody’s worried about you,” Genki informed him.

“It’s going to be one of those practices, isn’t it?” the choreographer asked, long-suffering.

Jinguji held it together as best he could for the rest of dance practice, and it wasn’t a complete disaster. He was a professional, after all this time, and at least one person around here had a private life or puberty meltdown about twice a week. Everyone was used to ignoring any strange things and just getting on with practice. But by the time practice was ending, Jinguji’s brain had been going around in little circles for hours and he was exhausted, cheeks sore from trying to keep his usual grin in place, dreading trying to navigate his way through an apology for the mood Genki had obviously worked himself into. It was a relief when Fukazawa swept into the room from the practice next door and hustled Genki along to a special senpai date.

“No tag-a-longs allowed!” Fukazawa called, sing-song. He gave Jinguji a wink on the way by as he pushed a sputtering Genki along in front of him, and Jinguji had to chuckle. It made a little more sense when Sakuma strolled up as Jinguji was packing up his bag, Hirano hovering at his shoulder like usual.

“Yo,” Sakuma said. “Seems like you could use a little senpai time too? By coincidence your partner seems busy.”

“Coincidence, huh?” Jinguji smiled a little despite his physical and mental exhaustion. “I wonder.”

Sakuma grinned widely. “Shut up and let’s go, kiddo.”

Tucked in the back of a ramen place that Tanaka Juri swore tasted like singing a solo in Tokyo Dome center stage felt, as soon as they placed their order, Sakuma turned to Jinguji and ordered him to tell him the whole story.

“And don’t skimp on the details,” he said, folding his arms. He shrugged a shoulder at Hirano. “This guy’s totally safe, so don’t worry. So you confessed to Iwahashi? Or other way around?”

“It’s…neither,” Jinguji said, staring at the table. He was too tired to figure out how to explain without actually explaining the whole thing, so he just gave up. “It’s not a real thing. There were these guys…”

Sakuma nodded patiently through Jinguji’s entire story, and Hirano only listened with wide eyes.

“Ehhhh,” Hirano said when Jinguji finished. “So it isn’t real at all? You guys had me really fooled!”

“Hm, I wonder. One, you wanted to protect Iwahashi.” Sakuma held up one finger, then another and another as he added points. “Two, you don’t mind being physically close with him. Three, you kissed him in front of people because his feelings are more important than your own reputation. Four, you kissed him again even though nobody at all was watching.”

Jinguji pulled a face. “Yeah. So it’s like that.” He looked up at Sakuma plaintively. “What should I do?”

“You have to confess, right?” Sakuma shrugged, like it was the only obvious answer. “Properly this time.”

“Whyyyyyy?” Jinguji whined, letting his forehead thump down on the table. “I already asked him to go out, why isn’t that enough? He’ll never believe me after I made such a big deal about how it was no big deal at all!”

“Your own fault, you should have done it right the first time.” Sakuma gripped Jinguji’s hair lightly, but firmly enough to lift his head off the table to look him in the eye. “Because that part was real the whole time, right?”

Jinguji bit his lip, then nodded. “Yeah. I guess it was. Shit. SHIT.”

“Wait, so you ARE dating for real?” Hirano exclaimed. “Listen, I know I’m dumb and stuff, but anybody would be confused! You guys are really weird!”

“Shut uuuuup,” Jinguji wailed.

“Yes, yes,” Sakuma agreed with a laugh, and then he waved down the waitress to order extra gyoza to soothe both of their hurt feelings.

Jinguji didn’t get much sleep that night. The more he thought things over, the more he realized Sakuma was right. If he let things go on this way too long, it would be that much harder to convince Genki in the end that he was serious. Keeping his feelings a secret wasn’t even an option, Jinguji realized, heaving a sigh. He should have never kissed Genki, because now it was all he could think about, and the thought of never kissing Genki again made the knot in his stomach yank so tight that Jinguji’s breath caught.

In the morning, Jinguji looked something worse for wear, eyes ringed and hair puffed up stupidly no matter how he combed it. So much for his plan to show up looking dashing and suave to sweep Genki off his feet with sexy confessions.

“Uuugh,” he yelled at his reflection in the mirror, throwing down his comb with a clatter. “I wouldn’t date you either!”

When he opened the bathroom door, his mother was standing in the hallway holding a handful of clean towels and with one eyebrow raised as high as it would go. Flushing pink, Jinguji sidled by, grumbling something about drama lines, and then escaped the house as fast as he could before she could ask him all the right questions.

Meet at the station?, Jinguji mailed Genki, wondering if he was mad from yesterday still or if he’d forgotten about it overnight. Either was possible. I caught the earlier train, so I can meet you at your exit.

Sure. Also, say good morning properly 😛

Jinguji relaxed a little, that sounding like normal morning banter. Good morning, my cute cupcake~ Are you sweet flavor as usual today?

GROSS Genki sent back, but it was followed by a string of laughter kanji, so Jinguji thought that things were safe after all.

At least, they would be until he fucked it up even worse, as he was clearly planning on doing. The ten minutes until Genki’s train arrived seemed five times as long as it really was. Jinguji scuffed his shoes on the ground while he waited and rehearsed what he wanted to say over and over.

It all went out of his head the second Genki appeared at the top of the steps. He looked so cute in that blazer and tie, cheeks pink and hair ruffled from the wind on the platform, and when his eyes caught with Jinguji’s and lit up, Jinguji’s heart thumped painfully.

“You made me laugh on the train, jerk!” Genki said as he approached, slapping Jinguji’s shoulder. “Everyone looked at me!”

“They were looking because you’re so cute,” Jinguji said on autopilot, nerves sending him into default charai-mode. Genki smiled, pleased by direct praise as usual. “Hey…you think I’m cute too, right?”

“Hm?” Genki tilted his head a little. “Sure. Well…more than cute, Jin-chan is handsome, I guess.” Genki looked at Jinguji a little more closely when Jinguji only got more flustered despite asking for the compliment himself. “Something up? You’re making a face.”

“Yeah, I, um.” Jinguji struggled to get out a coherent sentence. “We should talk. Uh.”

“Should we?” Genki’s brow knit together, looking concerned, and Jinguji felt immediately guilty. He held out his hand for Genki to take, trying to look reassuring. Genki looked from Jinguji’s hand up to his face without taking it. “Is it about us?”

“Yes,” Jinguji started, grabbing Genki’s hand for himself. “It’s—”

“You don’t want to be my fake boyfriend anymore?” Genki guessed.

“Right,” Jinguji said, voice emphatic with relief that Genki had figured it out himself. But then half a second later Genki dropped his eyes and tried to tug his hand back, and Jinguji realized how that sounded. “I mean no! That’s not what I meant!”

“Just let go already,” Genki said, voice low, looking down so that his hair hid most of his expression.

“Genki, listen to me,” Jinguji pleaded, but clearly Genki wasn’t listening at all. He yanked his hand out of Jinguji’s, and panic seized Jinguji that if Genki ran off now, he’d never get to explain himself proper. Without thinking, Jinguji grabbed two fistfuls of Genki’s blazer and yanked him close enough to kiss him fiercely right in the middle of the train station.

He’s going to murder me, Jinguji thought in despair, eyes scrunched closed so he wouldn’t see it coming. They stayed like that for the longest ten seconds of Jinguji’s life, Genki’s mouth partially open from shock and their noses pressed awkwardly against each other.

“Jin-chan?” Genki said, and Jinguji had no choice but to open his eyes and step back to look at him. Genki’s whole face was pink, his brown eyes so wide that Jinguji’s heart ached, and Jinguji gripped Genki’s blazer even tighter, determined to stop him from running away.

“I don’t want to be your fake boyfriend,” he said, voice only shaking a little. “I want to be your actual boyfriend. So please go out with me?”

“Everyone is staring,” Genki whispered. “We’re gonna get yelled at.”

“I already told you I don’t care,” Jinguji lied. Well, it was half a lie; he did care, but he cared about Genki’s answer much more. “I’m not letting go until you give me your answer.”

Genki’s mouth pressed together in a thin, nervous line. “You really want to? But you like…you don’t…I’m just…me.”

“I like you,” Jinguji said, that part completely honest. “Just you is enough. You’re…” Jinguji swallowed. “You’re the most important thing.”

“Oh,” Genki said, so quietly that Jinguji could barely hear him, and then Genki threw arms around Jinguji’s middle and buried his face in Jinguji’s shirt. Jinguji hugged him back tightly, taking slow, deep breaths to try and calm down and hoping that Genki couldn’t feel the way he was shaking all over.

“Come on,” Jinguji said, the people staring on the way by starting to get to him finally. “We’ll be late and get yelled at for that too.” He pushed Genki back a step and tried to straighten him out, but he looked rumpled and upset, eyes glassy, shirt wrinkled where Jinguji had grabbed him. “Geez, no wonder people pick on you, looking so helpless like that.”

A flash of irritation cut through Genki’s expression as he snapped that it was Jinguji’s fault, and Jinguji had to hide a smile because somehow that it was really appealing when Genki yelled at him like that.

They were late to school, and they did get yelled at, both by their homeroom teachers and then again at work when some questionable phone shots of them in the train station surfaced. Jinguji didn’t care at all. He’d get yelled at ten times a day and take it gladly since Genki looked up from his desk with a smile every time Jinguji showed up at his classroom door, and every time Jinguji held out his hand for Genki to hold their fingers slid together perfectly.

Plus, now he got to kiss Genki as much as he wanted. Except for in train stations because Genki had made a very firm rule about that for obvious reasons. But the stairwell at school was still fair game, or in the dressing room before anyone else showed up, or in Jinguji’s room with the door shut. That was Jinguji’s favorite place because he could take his time and get Genki to relax completely against him, no worries about friends or co-workers or siblings interrupting.

Genki with mussed hair, sleepy eyes, and kiss-puffed lips was a hundred times cuter than any senpai or AV actress that Jinguji had ever bullshitted with other guys about. Better than any girl ever, especially when he caught Jinguji looking and smiled shyly. Jinguji could never resist leaning down to kiss that cute little smile, wrapping an arm around Genki’s waist to pull him even closer.

“You should, um,” Genki tried to protest as Jinguji kissed across the curve of his cheek. “Stop. Oh. We really should stop.”

“Why?” Jinguji asked, slipping his hand up the back of Genki’s T-shirt. Genki’s skin was so warm, and the way he shivered when Jinguji’s splayed his hand was really nice. “I don’t want to stop. You like this, right?” Jinguji drew two fingers down Genki’s spine gently, and Genki made a noise that went right to Jinguji’s dick. “You obviously do.”

“Don’t look so pleased with yourself,” Genki grumbled, shoving Jinguji off. Jinguji settled on his side, reaching up to run fingers through Genki’s hair, and Genki didn’t seem to mind that. “It’s, you know, embarrassing.”

“What is?” Jinguji asked in confusion. Genki pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I don’t think this is embarrassing at all. It’s just me. I like touching you, and I really like kissing you.”

“Not that part, the…you know.” Genki huffed in frustration. “You get all into it and then I want…stuff…and it’s really hard to stop in the middle, so we shouldn’t. Because you’re…”

“I’m what?” Jinguji asked, starting to worry that Genki didn’t actually want him. Wasn’t Genki supposed to be the gay one here? “You don’t want to do that sort of stuff with me?”

“Not if you don’t want to!”

“But…I do want to?” Jinguji was utterly baffled at this point. “Not stopping in the middle is just fine with me.”

Genki frowned. “No, it isn’t.”

Jinguji laughed, he couldn’t help it. “Yes, it is! I said I liked you, right? Did you think I just wanted to make out with you a little and hold your hand?”

“Yes?” Genki peered at Jinguji as if trying to catch him lying. “You like girls. You never shut up about boobs! Dating and kissing are one thing, but this is totally different.”

“I can like boobs and you at the same time,” Jinguji insisted. “I keep telling you, I know you aren’t a girl and I don’t care. Whatever parts you have, I’m sure I’ll like them just fine!’ Jinguji paused. “I mean, you have normal parts, right?”

“I guess so,” Genki muttered, blushing furiously.

“Then good!” Jinguji blustered, turning a bit pink himself. “Then I’m ready when you are! I mean, you know, no rush. We can take it as slow or fast as you want. Anyway isn’t it better if we have the same thing? I have a lot more experience with one of those.”

For a second, Genki just stared at Jinguji, then he started snickering, and then it turned into full-blown laughter. He curled up and laughed until he was hiccuping, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. He looked beautiful like that, and Jinguji thought being with Genki was worth a hundred temper tantrums and jealous fits if he could make Genki laugh like that even once in a while.

“You’re so stupid,” Genki gasped. “You have a lot more experience? How often do you get yourself off?”

“A normal amount!” Jinguji protested, but he was snickering too. “Shut up! Do you want me to know what I’m doing or don’t you?”

“There is no way you know what you’re doing,” Genki said, going limp as the last of his giggling stopped. “You’ve never touched somebody else’s before, right?”

“I’m sure they all work the same!” Jinguji said, setting Genki off again. “And just how many dudes have you been touching, huh?”

Genki shook his head. “None. Would you be jealous if there were others?”

“YES,” Jinguji announced, surprising even himself with his vehemence. “Don’t touch anybody else’s junk!”

“Okay,” Genki agreed, smiling that cute, shy smile again. “But just to say, I haven’t even touched yours yet.”

“Genki,” Jinguji threatened, “I swear to god if after all this talk about dicks you don’t let me touch yours, I’m going to…” Jinguji paused, unable to think of a way to end that sentence. Not break up with him, after all of this.

“Going to what?” Genki asked sweetly.

“Shut up and unzip your pants already, geez.”

Stripping in front of Genki was not as sexy and cool as Jinguji had been hoping it might be. It was awkward, and Jinguji’s skinny jeans got stuck around his ankle, and Genki refused to drag his gaze off the floor, blushing so brightly that Jinguji thought it was a wonder he didn’t faint. Genki scuttled under Jinguji’s blankets as soon as he was naked, and Jinguji felt relief when he could do the same. Maybe he was ready to touch Genki and be touched by him, but being stared at was definitely too much.

“I…we were talking so I’m not h-hard, anymore,” Genki stuttered. He held himself stiffly even when Jinguji pulled him into a hug.

“That’s fine.” Jinguji kissed Genki’s temple, then his cheek, stroking his hand up and down Genki’s spine until he started to relax. “I can help with that.” Because more kissing was always fine in Jinguji’s book. Even better now that he could feel Genki’s skin against his all the way down, with nothing between them.

Genki was quiet even as they got more into it, only panting lightly in the short spaces between kisses. Jinguji, by contrast, couldn’t stop the small noises that had started to come out of his mouth. One particular groan slipped out loud enough that Genki opened his eyes to stare.

“I can’t help it,” Jinguji said defensively. “It feels good! You feel good too, right?”

“Yeah, but…” Genki gasped as Jinguji leaned in to lick at his neck, determined to make Genki make at least some noise. He could feel Genki’s pulse racing under his lips as he kissed and sucked on a patch of skin, but Genki still didn’t make any actual noise. Was he doing it wrong?

But then Genki shifted, and Jinguji felt how hard Genki was pressed against his thigh, how tightly Genki’s fingers were digging into Jinguji’s back. He lifted his head to look at Genki’s face, making Genki blink up at him in confusion.

“You’re just quiet, huh?” Jinguji asked.

“Sorry,” Genki looked torn between aroused and flustered, hips shifting restlessly now that he had Jinguji’s thigh to rub against. “I mean, I guess? I’ve never done this before, you know. And why are you so loud?”

Somehow Genki’s petulant complaint eased the rest of Jinguji’s worries, and he chuckled. “I’m always loud, you know that. Can I touch you?”

“You already…are?” Genki looked even more confused, eyes falling half-shut as Jinguji rocked against him more purposefully. “All over, even.”

Giving up on explaining, since he was apparently awful at it, Jinguji reached in between them and found Genki’s dick. He touched fingers to the side of it for a second, waiting to see if Genki protested, and when Genki’s breath only hitched, Jinguji wrapped his hand around Genki. It was a little different than holding his own, and Jinguji was afraid to grip as tightly as he liked to do to himself, but it wasn’t weird like he’d been afraid.

He should have known better, really. After all this time together no part of Genki could feel weird to Jinguji.

“I like it,” Jinguji said, then backpedaled because that sounded pretty weird. “I mean, uh, you know. This is good. Being with you like this feels good.”

Genki became essentially useless once Jinguji began actually trying to get him off, but Jinguji didn’t really care. He was entirely focused on making Genki feel good, on getting the speed right and making Genki snap his hips up into Jinguji’s hand. Genki’s tip was slick with precome when Jinguji ran a thumb over it, and Jinguji felt like a king because he had made Genki feel that good already.

When Genki went suddenly stiff, Jinguji almost froze himself, afraid he’d hurt Genki somehow, but after a split second he realized that Genki was coming, and focused on keeping his hand moving in the same way until Genki relaxed and flopped on his back.

“Should I stop touching you?” Jinguji asked, hand falling still but still wrapped around Genki. Right after he came, he was too sensitive to keep touching himself. Genki shook his head, apparently different.

“Still feels good,” he murmured, eyes shut. Jinguji gave him another slow stroke up and down, and Genki shivered with an obvious aftershock. “Hmmmm.”

“You’re so…” Jinguji caught himself just before he said something really embarrassing, like gorgeous or beautiful. “…cute.”

He shifted, accidentally bumping his own erection against Genki’s thigh, and Genki opened his eyes.

“Oh, you’re still…” Genki sat up, looking mortified. “I didn’t touch you at all! Ahh, I’m terrible!”

“Shut up, you are not,” Jinguji insisted, grabbing Genki by the wrist and yanking him back down. He wanted Genki’s face to go back to how relaxed and happy he had looked five seconds ago and leaned in to try and kiss the tense frown away. “I wanted to make you feel good, so I did. Taking turns is no big deal.”

“Quit trying to sound so experienced,” Genki complained, and Jinguji kissed him again to drive away the rest of his tension. And then he kissed Genki some more for good measure, just because he liked doing it.

He really liked doing it. Jinguji shifted his hips up against Genki, hoping that he would get the hint because it was starting to feel uncomfortable.

“So I just…” Genki’s hand rested awkwardly on Jinguji’s hip, his expression nervous as he looked at Jinguji’s face. “Um…”

“Do whatever you do to yourself,” Jinguji encouraged. It probably wouldn’t take much anyway, with as tightly wound as Jinguji already felt. He wasn’t exactly a slow build kind of guy when he got himself off. “You won’t hurt me. Please?” Genki was still hesitating, and Jinguji felt a twinge of uncertainty. “Unless, you don’t want to, that’s okay too. I can do it myself.”

“N-no, I want to,” Genki said, looking embarrassed but determined. “Can you show me, though? What you…like, I guess.”

The idea of that made heat wash through Jinguji, and he grinned as he reached down to slide his hand over Genki’s. “Yeah. Definitely.”

Jinguji kicked down the blankets, too warm from being turned on so long, and rolled onto his back. He guided Genki’s hand to his dick and wrapped both of their hands around himself, Genki’s hand on the inside. He let Genki give one cautious stroke on his own before tightening his hand and showing Genki how he really liked it.

“That hard?” Genki asked. Jinguji snuck a glance to the side and saw that Genki’s cheeks were red, but his eyes were glued to Jinguji’s dick sliding through their hands.

“Yeah,” Jinguji groaned, letting his head flop back against the pillow and closing his eyes. He didn’t even try to hold back any of his noises, too close to worry about anything besides Genki’s hand on his skin. “Don’t stop, don’t stop.”

Genki didn’t stop, even when Jinguji wasn’t guiding their hands anymore. Jinguji’s orgasm felt completely different with Genki’s hands on him than it did by himself, a hot rush that spread the whole way out to his fingers and toes and made his back arch for a long second. When it was over, Jinguji had to bat Genki’s hand off of him, but he fumbled their fingers back together so that Genki didn’t think he had done something wrong.

“Too sensitive after,” he managed to mumble. His skin was tingling all over as he curled up in a ball on his side and leaned heavily into Genki. When Genki’s arms went around him, Jinguji gave another shameless moan at how good it felt to have someone else there touching him after. Even the smallest touch spread ripples of pleasure over his sensitive skin.

Maybe it was just because it was Genki touching him, Jinguji didn’t know. Jinguji didn’t care, he just wanted Genki to keep on doing it.

“More,” Jinguji begged, flinging one arm and leg over Genki to cuddle even closer. Genki rubbed Jinguji’s back more firmly, and Jinguji whined happily. “That feels amazing. I’m never going to be able to jerk off by myself ever again.”

“Seriously, how much were you doing it…”

Jinguji started laughing and couldn’t stop, burying his face against Genki’s shoulder. Genki started to laugh after a few seconds as well, and by the time Jinguji calmed down he felt like he was practically glowing. Genki was relaxed against him, expression happy and comfortable when Jinguji picked up his head to look, and Jinguji was proud he had done that himself.

“You feel good too, right?” he asked, just to make sure. Genki nodded. “Good. I told you I’d be an awesome boyfriend.”

Jinguji expected Genki to protest, or to point out that Jinguji had actually set out to be just a fake boyfriend, but instead Genki smiled. “Please take care of me, then.”

“Yeah.” Jinguji hugged Genki so tightly he squeaked. “Yeah, definitely.”

A week later, things had settled down into something like normal. Sometimes normal consisted of having three fights a day with Genki about stuff that Jinguji didn’t even understand half the time, but then again sometimes he got dragged into the stairwell and kissed senseless for reasons that were equally incomprehensible. Jinguji felt pretty good about it, all things averaged together.

“Come on, come on,” Jinguji hustled Genki along cheerfully. He’d packed a cute lunch for them, which was not girly at all except for possibly the heart-shaped carrots, but that didn’t mean he was going to hand it over until they were safely on the roof where nobody besides Genki would see it. He’d been antsy about his surprise all morning, and had been out of his own classroom like a shot as soon as the lunch period started.

Now the only thing standing in the way of a perfectly executed surprise was the fact that yet another cluster of sports section guys was standing outside of Genki’s classroom, blocking the whole hallway.

“Geez, do you guys not have a club room or something!” Jinguji said, using one hand to push Genki behind him.

“Eh?” One of the guys stopped talking to look them over, eyebrows raised. “What’s it to you? Oh, it’s you!” he added, noticing Genki behind Jinguji’s shoulder.

“Now listen,” Jinguji growled, protective instincts kicking into high gear. That guy wasn’t so big! But before he could get himself any more worked up, Genki spoke up.

“Hi, Takamura-kun. Jin-chan, calm down.” Genki patted Jinguji’s shoulder and edged around him. “These guys are from the baseball club. They let me pitch for them a little last week since their spare pitcher was out with a cold, even though I can’t join the club because of work. Sorry about that.” Genki bobbed a quick bow and pointed his thumb at Jinguji. “This is Jinguji, and he’s kind of an overprotective boyfriend.”

“Don’t you forget it,” Jinguji grumbled, but Genki was already saying goodbye and tugging Jinguji down the hallway. “What the heck was that?”

“What?” Genki asked innocently, but a self-satisfied smile was lurking at the edge of his lips as he eyed Jinguji out of the corner of his eye. “I can’t take care of you sometimes, too?”

For a second, Jinguji just blinked, and then he had to laugh. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Yeah, that’s fine. But only some of the time! You’re going to ruin my tough reputation. Also ugh, those guys totally think I’m the catcher now!”

“Pffft,” Genki giggled. His hand slid into Jinguji’s, twining their fingers tight together, and that, Jinguji supposed, was that.