"Crap.."Nagisa groaned as he glanced at Yuto that morning. So it seemed that he had done something to piss him off. But then again, living with Yuto was like running in a field full of mines. It had been about a week since Yuto began sleeping in Nagisa's room.
His moods seemed to have been improving although Nagisa occasionally did something to tick him off. "Old dog, you're not even 40! How did you forget to soak the coffee pot overnight?!"Yuto scolded, annoyed. "Don't you know how hard it is to wash the stains out?!!".
Nagisa hugged Yuto from behind, who was scrubbing at the extremely stained pot. "I'm sorry, Yuto. It's just that you always do everything for me and sometimes I rely on you too much,".
Somehow, the hug managed to make the active volcano of anger dormant. "Get to work and let go of me,"He groaned gruffly as he washed the pot. "I thought I could drive you to class today. Plus, you only have one lecture today right?" Nagisa asked while grinning and tightened his grip around Yuto's waist. "Which jerk gave you my timetable.."Yuto growled, scowling at him.
"Your professor did. He told me to keep a cloooose eye on you now. I'm just being a responsible guardian, Yuto-kun~,"He snickered and Yuto sighed. "I'm not a baby. I can handle myself, old dog,".
"But the kids have half-day today. I could take you out somewhere fun after classes,". Yuto's angry expression melted into confusion. "Fun?? How do you have fun?"He muttered as he rinsed the pot one last time. "You haven't been using your allowance, have you? Don't kids your age like to go out and have fun?"Nagisa asked as he finally let go of Yuto. Yuto looked even more puzzled.
Setting the pot aside to dry, Yuto couldn't understand anything Nagisa was saying. "Go out and do what? How do you have fun outside??". Nagisa then realised that Yuto wasn't as privileged as he was when he was his age. "You know, karaoke, to the beach, the arcade. What do you do for fun Yuto?"He shrugged as he handed the boy a dry cloth to wipe the coffee pot. Yuto looked so perplexed.
"Housework...".
He resumed cleaning while Nagisa crumpled to the ground, feeling his soul detach itself from his body. 'Help me, this child is so out of touch with the world it's crazy'.
Picking himself back up and holding Yuto's hands, his eyes were sparkling. "Why don't I take you to the amusement park after class? You've never been there before. Have some fun with me~,"He smiled and Yuto looked away, blushing. "Whatever you want old dog. Now hurry up and go to work!". The man laughed and petted the boy's head gently. "Yeah, yeah, get in the car,".
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Later at noon, Nagisa picked Yuto up from school. "Nagi, could you teach me how to have fun today?"He asked, looking outside the car's window. He lowered the hood of his hoodie. Once they stopped at a red light, Nagisa ruffled his hair gently. "Of course~~ We'll have a full and fun day today,". Nagisa smiled to himself as he resumed driving.
'Yuto's such an innocent child. He's honestly a rude soul sometimes, but he knows that I'll show him everything he wants to know. That's the cute thing about him'.
Sighing to himself, Nagisa had already accepted the fact that he was in love with Yuto. He knew that Yuto was much younger than him but he had grown to accept it already. He wondered if he felt the same. However, he'd probably have to continue wondering another time because when they got to the parking lot, Yuto just couldn't budge from his seat. "N-No..I can't, I can't, I can't..."He whimpered, his body shaking like a tremor. He covered his face with the hoodie and refused to look up, gripping onto the seat tightly.
"It'll be okay. You're with me. You're here to have fun,"Nagisa whispered, bending down on the ground as he tried to console Yuto as patiently as he could. The boy shook his head, reluctant to leave the car. "How do you get around school then?". Yuto bit his lip and muffled a reply through the hoodie. "I...cover my face and run to class. I end up b-bumping into some people though..."His voice wavered as he bit down on the sleeve of the hoodie.
He massaged his thumb, trying to calm himself. It would be fine. He was with Nagisa, the only person he trusted in his life. Right, Nagisa even stood up to his mother. When he's with Nagisa, he would be safe. Nobody could ever try to hurt him anymore. He took a few deep breaths and grounded himself but he hitched his breath when Nagisa held his hand.
"I don't know if this makes you feel safer, but you can hold my hand, my arm, or even hug me and I won't mind,". He peered up from the hood of his hoodie that covered his face and saw Nagisa smiling at him, that gentle look on his face. "Take all the time you need to catch your breath, Yuto. We have plenty of time today,". The boy nodded his head, slowly sitting upright and lowering his hood.
Breaking the seal of a mineral water bottle, Nagisa handed it to Yuto so he could have a drink of water. He knew that he had to be patient with people like Yuto. After years of being subjected to cruel humiliation and torture, Yuto's brain had learnt to program itself in a way that would 'protect' him from an incoming situation that he deemed 'dangerous'.
Cool water washed over Yuto's dry throat. He handed Nagisa the bottle, his hands trembling. Thankfully, his breathing was much calmer. Nagisa was relieved, slipping the bottle in its holster backseat before holding out his hand to Yuto. "Come, let's have fun, Yuto,"He smiled, rejoicing internally when he felt Yuto's timid hand grab his large paw.
The amusement park was vibrant and eye-catching. Yuto was amazed at once as this was something he had only seen in posters and things. He was intrigued by the bright colours and the happy squeals from the children. "It seems like such a happy place..."He mumbled to Nagisa, scratching his head. Yuto had never ever been to an amusement park. Everything seemed new to him. Nagisa was really excited to play some games with Yuto and show him around. After all, Yuto had never been anywhere other than home and school.
His time was occupied with the chores that were forced onto him but since he was finally free from the clutches of his family, he could slack off a little and relax with Nagisa. 'Come to think of it, Nagi's more fun-loving and laidback than he used to be. I guess freeing himself from my controlling sister was a good move. I don't remember him being this sweet with me though..There's something weird about him..' Yuto thought as he walked around, observing the park.
While the boy was busy admiring the colours around him, Nagisa was on his guard. He didn't want Yuto to feel threatened in a place where he's supposed to feel nothing but pure happiness. He held Yuto's hand protectively, letting his warmth radiate between their palms.
"What do you want to do first?"Nagisa asked as he caressed his head gently in front of the games store. "I..don't know,"The boy mumbled as his eyes wandered around. "Do you want to play some games?"The man asked as he rubbed Yuto's head affectionately. He felt like Yuto was even more adorable right at that moment. He had never felt so much love for someone before but when he saw Yuto so flustered and clueless, his heart wanted to burst. After some thought, the boy nodded and Nagisa brought him to one of those games where you have to knock down some cans to get a prize.
He felt the urge to impress Yuto, even though he hadn't been to an amusement park in a while. The last time he went was a field trip for the children in his school and he had to chaperone them. But now he could sit back and have fun with Yuto. He didn't realise it but he managed to knock down an impressive amount of cans, much to Yuto's and the shopkeeper's surprise. "You're quite strong,"The female shopkeeper chuckled and picked up all the cans that he knocked down. She allowed Nagisa to pick two prizes and he picked two bears, one green and one blue. The man gave the blue one to Yuto. "But Nagi, you've won them. They're yours.."He spoke but Nagisa looked him in the eyes.
Yuto noticed Nagisa's startling blue eyes and the beautiful blue hue of the bear Nagisa gave him and blushed as the man whispered to him. "If we keep these, we'll never be too far away from each other,". He accepted the bear quietly, Nagisa enveloping his hand to bring him to the next game. "Thanks, Nagi,". He glanced at Yuto, intertwining their fingers. "Are you having fun so far, Yuto?"He whispered, admiring the green bear in his other hand. "Yeah..because you're with me, it's not as scary as I thought,". Nagisa kept the bears in a bag that he had brought with him. While they waited for their turn to play another game, Nagisa wrapped his arms around Yuto's shoulders, stroking his head gently. "There we go, you've been such a good boy. It's not so bad, now is it?". Yuto shook his head, coiling his arms around Nagisa's waist, enjoying the warmth. "Good boy, you're doing well,".
There were actually a couple of Nagisa's students who were at the amusement park. They were shocked to see their teacher there and were about to approach him but once they saw him holding hands with Yuto, they merely chuckled in the background.
"Ehhh, is that our English teacher?"One of the girls asked as she stared at his figure from afar. The other girls stared as well and were joking about saying hello to him but then they saw him rubbing another figure's head so lovingly that they all just gushed over him. "Awww~~ cuteee!! Is that his girlfriend?!!"They squealed and huddled together as a group. "Wait, she looks quite young actually. She's quite small though". Yuto had a slim figure and shoulder length hair that was always tied up in a small ponytail so it was easy to mistake him for a typical female. They continued to squeal over them as Nagisa held Yuto's hand to bring him away to a new game. Yet they didn't want to follow them in case they were caught so they figured that they'd ask him tomorrow during their lessons.
The pair played a couple more games and bought some snacks to take home but Nagisa wanted Yuto to try eating some fair food. He noticed that Yuto's choices in food were quite sparse and it was quite surprising to him, considering what other people his age ate. "Yuto-kun, is there something that you'd want to snack on? Its not everyday that I see you enjoying some snacks,"He chuckled. Yuto's eyes brightened as he noticed a stall in the corner of his eye. "Could we get some taiyaki?"He asked and pat Nagisa's shoulder excitedly. The man laughed and soon enough, he was sitting on a bench with Yuto, nibbling on some warm and delicious taiyaki. Yuto had another small smile on his face as he munched on the fish-shaped snack. In Nagisa's eyes, he just looked so precious.
'Crap..He really is too cute when he's happy. I've never seen him smile so frequently before'.
Every time when Yuto had had a bad day at school or at home, he'd eat taiyaki on the way back to cheer himself up. To him, taiyaki brought back memories of calm and peaceful happy moments that he had, even though all he did was eat them in class or the school's cafeteria. But now, he was eating it, absolutely relaxed with nothing to really worry about. With Nagisa by his side. The thought of all that made him a little happier. He glanced at Nagisa who returned the look and continued to pet his head gently with a bright smile.
'God, of all people who had to be so nice to me, a man. The man who used to be married to my sister. The man who warded my cruel mother away from me. The man who wants to take me out on such a fun day..I really don't know what it's like to fall in love. But if my heart gets all soft and fuzzy around him, is that a sign?'.
Nagisa laughed at how small his bites were. "Yuto-kun, today's kind of like a date,". Hearing that, Yuto returned to the confused version of himself. "D-Date?? What's a date?". The man stopped in his tracks. "Wait, you've never dated before??". He was surprised but not shocked. If anyone in high school could deal with Yuto's questionable attitude enough to date him, they must really be something else. Plus, he must be expecting too much from Yuto; He only discovered what fun was meant to be today! The boy shook his head to Nagisa's question. "I don't even know what a date means, Nagi,". At that point, the man slipped the remains of his taiyaki back into its paper bag and rested his chin on his hand as he watched the boy eat. "A date is when you take someone you're interested in on a fun day together,". Yuto swallowed his food and the second he heard that, his cheeks felt like they were burning.
'What?'. He instantly replayed Nagisa's words in his head and became more flustered. 'So Nagi's interested in me?? So, he wants to be something a little more with me?? I mean, he's been acting more affectionate lately..and a little more needy..' Yuto thought and blushed as he felt Nagisa's warm hands cup his face. "Is this your first date?"He asked softly and petted Yuto's head with one of his hands. All the 19 year old could do was turn red and fall prey into the comfort of Nagisa's arms. "Yeah...I've never been on one before,"He mumbled and felt himself blush a darker shade of red. As much as his heart was extremely soft and at the verge of bursting, he didn't know how to confirm his feelings because after all, he had never been in love with anyone before. Nagisa still wanted to take Yuto somewhere that he could spend some alone time with him so he took him to the ferris wheel.
It looked gorgeous at night when it was all bright and illuminated. They sat next to each other, Yuto admiring the view from above. "Everything looks stunning.."He cooed to himself, amazed. Nagisa was happy that Yuto looked to be having fun that day. He had never seen such the dark and unhappy teenager so alive before. It was like the fun he had that day, sucked out all his negative energy. He wanted to see more of this Yuto. In fact, he wanted it all to himself. He couldn't possibly imagine Yuto with anyone else. They were already living together, taking care of each other and bickering but what if Yuto only saw him as a caretaker? Well, then a caretaker he'll be.
Just then the carriage jerked forward and Yuto clung onto Nagisa's body instantly. "You don't have to be so scared, Yuto-kun. They'll jerk a bit here and there,"He chuckled and noticed how tightly Yuto held him from the fear of falling. He transferred one of Yuto's small hands to his great paws and engulfed it firmly. Yuto's face was extremely flushed. To him, this scene was exactly the kind of scene you would see in a movie. Where the couple in love would kiss right after. But then again, he didn't know if Nagisa felt the same way or not. The man in question noticed how flustered he was and petted his head with his other hand. "It's okay, you'll have absolutely nothing to worry about from now on, Yuto-kun~,"He chirped in a low whisper. They enjoyed the rest of the view from the top before returning down. Right as Nagisa was about to get the car, he wanted to give Yuto one more thing. It would either earn him a sock in the face or an extremely cute and flustered Yuto.
"Yuto-kun, I'm about to get the car but first, could you close your eyes?". Yuto's emerald green eyes fluttered shut and Nagisa grinned. He gave the boy a gentle peck on the cheek before he jangled the car keys and walked away to get his vehicle. He left Yuto standing in the entrance, speechless and his face crimson.
Once they got home, Yuto put his new bear in his room. He blushed as Nagisa's words just haunted him again and again. 'If we keep these, we'll never be too far away from each other'. Everything felt confusing to Yuto. Why wouldn't he be too far away from Nagisa? Was it because he would be looking into the eyes of the person he loves if he looked at the bear? The kiss on the cheek and the image of the blue in Nagisa's eyes replayed itself in his head and he grew even more flustered. Nagisa was all that he had. He didn't have any friends or anyone he would consider family but he had Nagisa. The thought of that made him want to hide his face. Living under the same roof with Nagisa for several years now, he didn't expect them to become so close to each other. They especially got even closer together after Yuri filed for a divorce with Nagisa and Yuto understood how it wrecked him. He even took care of the man when he'd return home drunk, even though it was late.
Just as he was about to get up from his desk, Nagisa entered his room. "Yuto-kun?? Are you asleep? I was wondering why you weren't coming to bed,". Yuto wanted to pretend that he was asleep but the loving tone of Nagisa's voice made him get up and hug him. "Ah..okay okay, I'll take you to my room,".
'This voice, this warmth and this lovely feeling, I never want to let any of it go..' Yuto thought to himself as Nagisa laid him in his bed, pulling the blanket over him. 'But sometimes I need to ground myself and make myself aware that..' He continued thinking as he felt himself drifting off to sleep.
Nagisa pushed Yuto's bangs aside and kissed his forehead gingerly. "Sleep well Yuto,".
'I'm nothing more than an emotionally broken child to him..'
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"Shinji-sensei,"The female students called out to him and Nagisa chuckled as he walked over to their table. "We saw you out with your girlfriend at the amusement park yesterday!!". Nagisa froze on the spot with a panicked expression on his face.
"Oh!! He's not my boyfriend or anything like that!!!"He gulped, laughing nervously as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "Don't lie to us Sensei! We saw you guys holding hands and everything!"The black haired girl retorted but then the whole group paused. "Sensei, did you say— HE?!?!". Nagisa nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "He's my roommate, he's a couple years older than you guys of course,"He smirked and put his hands in his pocket.
"But he's got a ponytail!"
"And such a slim figure!"
"And he looked so happy with you!"
The entire group chorused excitedly again. "Are you sure you're not going out with him, Sensei?!".
Nagisa's phone rang at the moment and saved him. He answered the phone of course and was instantly blasted by Yuto's angry voice. "Oi! Old dog! If someone makes lunch for you at least bring it with you to school!"He shouted on the other end of the phone. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!!"Nagisa apologised hurriedly and heard Yuto sigh at the other end of the phone. "Whatever, old dog. I don't have any classes today. I'll bring it over,"Yuto groaned and the sounds of clinking metal utensils echoed through the phone. "Don't you have anything else to do?"Nagisa asked but he could hear the boredom in Yuto's voice. "I've already cleaned this house inside and out for the day".
Nagisa smiled to himself and agreed. "We could have lunch together, come over~ Just tell the guard that you're looking for me and get a visitor's pass on your way to my class,"He chirped and was cut off by Yuto's annoyed voice. "Class B3. I got that,"He responded and hung up. Nagisa didn't realise that the girls were watching him until they squealed in streams of "Cute!!!!".
"What—Hurry up and finish those assignments! I want them by the end of our lesson!"Nagisa ordered them and kept his phone. He huffed and watched the clock, waiting for the arrival of Kirishima Yuto.
_φ(･ω･ Author's Note
What a first date! I smiled while writing this (^^) Let me know what you think in the comments! Voting is also appreciated! Thank you for reading this chapter of A Heart To Heal! ♡