SEND “3, 2, 1…” FOR A NEW YEAR’S KISS FROM MY MUSE (asghsja I’m love my ibanagis thank you for sending this ask afsga qwq from @dokuhebi-tactician )
Ghhh- ghh– New Year is right around the corner, for those who are listening to us, we wish you the best… this year has been…
Along with a string of static, the music channel interrupted it’s usual set of classical music. Concentration cut in two, Ibara lifted his blue eyes from the stack of papers he had been working on. Schedules for Eden, projects for the year, requests for lives and CMs… and then on the side the schedules from the many clases Nagisa had inscribed himself into for next year.
Lifting his lenses, he reached for his exhausted eyes and rubbed them softly with his fingers.
Everyone else was resting, enjoying the holiday times. Yet, that was not for him. A lowly bastard like himself didn’t deserved a break. No, no. He should continue working, make the numbers and times fit. Make the best possible choices so the profit would increase…
The New Year’s talk continued to come from the radio, but now the sound of steps tagged along. Muffled steps, heavy yet well balanced. Nagisa’s steps. Had he grow bored of staying in the living room and was moving over to his room? Perhaps.
Lowering the glasses over his face, Ibara stretched and calmly started to write again. As if he wasn’t bending down from exhaustion just a bit before.
Just in case Nagisa peeked into the room.
Just in case.
Nagisa’s steps stopped by the door, and a little creak indicated he had pushed it further open.
Turning around, back a straight line and body ready to stand up if requested to do so, Ibara gave the white-haired a wide smile, framed in long wine colored locks.
“Your Excellency! Is there any way I can make myself useful to you? Anything you might need of me? Just say the words and I, Ibara Saegusa, shall do the very best of my efforts to please you!” It was easy to act this part. To say what he always say and smile like he always did.
Nagisa’s reply was as lukewarm as always, merely a shake of his head followed by the very contradictory action of making his way into Ibara’s room and sitting on his bed.
Head tilted slightly to the side, Ibara felt once more the usual confusion that Nagisa’s behavior brought to him. Because Nagisa was something he couldn’t quite calculate; something that should be in his palm and yet, had more freedom than any other of the pieces in his game. Strange. This weird pull he felt on his chest whenever he saw Nagisa, and the little warmth that came from it, must certainly be confusion. For, what else could it be?
Nagisa didn’t said anything and so Ibara decided to return to his work.
Pen dragging itself over the papers, Ibara continued to set down the different events, accompanying his mental calculations with meaningful words.
Then Nagisa’s voice reached him, interrupting his thoughts once more and making him turn around to look at him. A question followed by a ‘Ibara should know, right?’
“A New Year kiss, you say? Of course I have heard about it before! It’s a tradition that has found its meaning distorted along the different cultures it passed to. There’s those who believe sharing a kiss with someone in New Year will bring you good luck in the upcoming year, and those that see it as a prayer to be even closer to the person they love. A sign of wanting to spend the rest of the year together even! It’s quite the interesting tradition. Should I gather up some books or articles about it for you to read?”
Nagisa looked up for a moment, as if coming to terms with the new information, before finally shaking his head to Ibara’s proposition of gathering documents for him.
“Is there any specific reason for His Excellency to be interested in such a topic? Not that it’s necessary for you to tell me! I’m sure whatever you come up with will be great!”
Nagisa nodded once before commenting it had been because of Hiyori.
“Ah, yes His Majesty Tomoe surely is the type to enjoy such things. Truly a warm and passionate person!” he praised, only half-believing the words that came out of his own mouth. A little tug on his chest when he thought of Hiyori and Nagisa sharing a kiss on the New Year. Though, wasn’t Hiyori out of the house at the moment?
Yes, Hiyori had gone out with Jun-kun, Nagisa confirmed. Such a perfect timing it almost felt as if he had read Ibara’s mind. And before he could make another comment on the matter Nagisa had stood up from the bed and walked closer to him.
Crimson eyes imposing, Ibara was unable to move or talk for the seconds following Nagisa’s request for New Year’s kiss.
Truly puzzling. Confusing. It almost felt like he was the one trapped in Nagisa’s hand, instead of the other way around.
“O-oh, a low being like myself has no right to share such a thing with Your Excellency…” the little stutter by the start was subtle enough to pass unnoticed, but it was more agitated he had showed himself in a while.
Nagisa wouldn’t yield either.
Apparently he wanted to ‘get along with ibara this year as well’, and was also curious about the tradition…
Ibara would hope Nagisa wouldn’t rope him along with his little experiments of curiosity, but here he was…
“If that’s what Your Excellency desires, then who am I to refuse?” he finally rectified himself, standing up right in front of his unit-mate. Bowing gallantly, he reached for Nagisa’s hand and lifted it up, pressing a soft kiss against it.
That’s not what Nagisa wanted… but he truly didn’t felt like it’d be correct for him to share an actual kiss with him, not wanting to dirty the other anymore than that.
An unsatisfied look -though maybe that was merely ibara’s own interpretation- fell over him.
Wasn’t it supposed to be on the lips? It wasn’t even at the right hour.
That weird sensation appearing in his chest once again, Ibara could do nothing but smile -like he always did.
The actual countdown for the end of the year was sounding now, and Nagisa was still there. Impassible. Stubborn. He wanted a real kiss. One that would work.
“Then, may I request that you close your eyes?”
Nagisa seemed puzzled but he accepted.
Closing his own eyes, Ibara stepped on the tip of his toes and pressed one soft kiss against Nagisa’s.
And that weird feeling in his chest suddenly grew. The turmoil and confusion only stronger as he noticed Nagisa leaning further into the kiss. Fast and strong enough to make him feel like it might burst through his chest and break him into pieces.
So he pulled away… face red and eyes trembling as much as his lips.
It was weird to see Ibara with a face like that, Nagisa commented. It felt more human, he added. He liked it, he concluded, just like he liked Ibara.
“Even if I’m the worst type of trash to ever exist?”
Nagisa nodded. Calmly. No rush, no hesitation. A clear and unwavering sincerity.
And Ibara could do nothing but see those unidentified emotions grows strong enough to overpower him completely. It was warm... a weird feeling that made him want to stay always by Nagisa’s side. To even throw his life in the line for him, if it ever came to that.
The emotion he could barely pinpoint as loyalty by then, was however, probably something much closer to an emotion he never experienced -nor as receiver or giver- and thus could not possibly understand: Love.
Ridiculous! Unthinkable! That his dear friend -soulmate even!- wouldn’t have the most perfect party to celebrate his birthday was absolutely unbelievable. He wouldn’t stand by this, not when it was such an special date!
Of course, what the poisonous snake and Jun-kun said was all very true -they were busy moving out of nowhere into a foreign country and things had to be settled first and foremost.
But Hiyori was not only spoiled, but stubborn. Not only was he sulking and pouting all through the past week or so, but he was merely awaiting the right time to make the celebration a reality.
And if he couldn’t do the biggest party ever because the only people he knew here were the other Eden members and maybe a couple of rich people he didn’t really wanted to talk to... then at least he’d go in a date with Nagisa! Yes he would.
That’s why he convinced the other to get on his good clothes and reunite with him in front of their house.
“Nagisa-kun! Seems like we’re all set for our date today~” he smiled widely, proudly putting his hands on his waist “I have already planned everything for today, so just follow my lead~ I’ll make this the greatest late-birthday party ever!”
[水] - That was quite the crowd that was gathering. Mizumachi hit the streets to take a leisurely stroll around to see what new and interesting thing he could get into when he noticed the crowd of girls huddled around.
Curious, he walked over to see that there seemed to be a guy in the middle of it all. Maybe he was an idol of some kind? He sure stuck out like a sore thumb with how tall he was, but curiosity killed the cat... and satisfaction brought it back. He’s no cat, but he sure was satisfied.
“Mhaa~! Are you like an idol or somethin’?
You’re pretty popular, aren’t ya?”
No no, don’t mind the fact that the guy is an idol who is surrounded by screaming fangirls at the moment. Surely he can hear Mizumachi’s question and answer him, right? Maybe if he gives him an SOS look, the friendly giant can just hoist him up into the air and run away!
Sakuraba also had to run away from his fans when they got too heated. Desperate times, desperate running.
Golden sun turning red, its last rays sneaked past the creaks of the cathedral, and flooding the chapel in the many colors of the enormous stained glass of pious images. Cruel images of murder and torture, played as sacrifices of saints to achieve god’s grace. Images that always brought a smile to his face, thoughts of the sadistic nature of the creator coming to mind if he wished for his ‘children’, his ‘lost sheep’ to be torn to pieces before acknowledging them.
He often wondered, if the hell he had called life was also part of this ploy. If since he knew more than most what pain, death and despair all meant, God would be a little kinder to him.
Maybe he was to skeptic of God -the very base of religion- to be a priest. But he was good enough at pretending. So much no one had ever questioned if he had been fully ordained - just as no one even guessed the dark past he had escaped from by taking the life of a priest that succumbed to death.
And why would anyone doubt him? He did an excellent job at being someone he was not, at preaching things he didn’t believed and give advice he would have never followed himself. He never broke character, still feeling the eyes of those who had ‘owned’ him ready to punish the slightest mistake he could make. He even had all sacred books memorized to the point he would never fail to come with a quote from it.
The sunlight sunk slowly in the farthest mountains, elongating the shadows of columns and banks- the silence interrupted by the many crows that used to stop right on top of the church right before sunset and dawn, as if crying to the sun when it looked closer to the earth.
With the cathedral empty he had nothing to do but close the doors and clean it up - of course if someone deeply troubled requested help he would open up again, but in such a small town, it was doubtful that anyone would arrive along the darkness.
And yet… he could feel a presence… something lurking in the dark. Was it the ghosts of his past driving him out of mind? Or was there really someone where he could swear was none?
SEND “3, 2, 1…” FOR A NEW YEAR’S KISS FROM MY MUSE @tarucchi & @mamachansenpai
If the start of the year was any indication as to how the rest of it would go -a little prologue episode- then this year was rather promising. The start alone was proving to be excellent from the very point in which he was able to avoid one of those horrible company parties.
It would have been an absolute God Tier if he had been able to spend the whole night doing nothing but grinding for items while lazing in his pajamas, but going to the little festival downtown (if you could call the few stands of food around the park and the announcement of fireworks a festival) wasn’t all that horrible.
Now, one could argue that it was BECAUSE of Madara that Itaru had been dragged out of the comfort of his base (house) and into enemy territory (the streets), but Itaru wasn’t all that mad about it. Mostly because Madara’s excited smile had the permanent effect of making it impossible to be angry with him. Quite the powerful hit, if you asked him.
And to be fair, it was good enough for him: not having to wear a suit and playing mobage whenever Madara got himself distracted with something -which was more often than not. In fact, they had to hold hands to avoid getting separated by the crowd.
Now, Itaru wasn’t the fondest of skin-ship, but when it came to Madara he was oddly ok with it. One of those ‘exception to the rule’ cases, probably.
There was just something comforting about holding his hand or walking close to him… something nice about Madara’s smell and warmth; about the way their hands fit naturally into one another.
“Ah, the fireworks are starting” a redundant comment, probably, since the first BOOM in the sky was more than enough to confirm that. “Though i don’t think we’ll manage to get a good spot right now… it’d be a extreme QTE if we could…”
Five more minutes till the end of the year, the live band had mentioned before starting yet another song. It probably would be better to just watch the fireworks from here.
People moving all around Itaru pocketed his phone and moved closer to Madara, ready to shield himself with the broader and stronger body of the idol.
A laugh and Madara seemed to have guessed Itaru’s intention, releasing his hand to pass his arm around itaru’s shoulders, pulling him closer in one swift movement. Pressed against that strong chest, there was a second of recognizing Madara’s smell and then another of realizing he was being hugged in public.
The natural embarrassment to such clear PDA only went down when he realized no one was really looking at them, far too busy with the music, or the fireworks, or their own couples. That and Madara was taking it all with stride. Like it was the most normal of situations -and maybe it was. he didn’t disliked the familiar closeness, and besides the savage beating of his own heart there was nothing to bother him from this situation.
Couples talked about giving each other a New Year’s kiss, something about it making relationships stronger through the year. He had heard about it before -movies and games sometimes mentioning it, even people in parties falling to it in occasion- but had never truly cared about it .
And he would have ignored it this year as well if Madara hadn’t commented on it -a smile as always, warm arms tightening around Itaru’s frame as he did.
He wanted to be closer to Itaru so he’d like a kiss too.
Something like that, probably meant as a joke -or not, he was never sure of what Madara was thinking.
It wasn’t only Madara that wanted for them to become closer, he had to admit. And it wasn’t as if this would be their first kiss together either -not even their second or third as it had somehow became a thing after the Pride festival many months ago…
“3! 2! 1!”
Not having anymore time to ponder about such matters, Itaru reached up for the collar of Madara’s shirt, pulling him down to his height just in time for the end of the countdown. Eyes closed, he pressed his lips against Madara’s, a rush of heat running through his body as the shouts of New Year surrounded him just to slowly quiet down…
Lips moving slowly against Madara’s, Itaru tilted his head slightly, tasting the slightly salty and buttery taste of the popcorn Madara had ate not so long ago.
Feeling the arms tighten around his waist and those soft lips move to match his own movements, Itaru pressed forward. Fingers sinking in Madara’s brown and messy hair, body pressed closer and tongue curiously looking around…
An electric shock hit him the second he found Madara’s tongue, and he melted down when the younger man pursued into his mouth. A quick play of licks and caresses before they would both pull away, red and breathless…
“Happy New Year…” he stopped, trying to breath properly again “Let’s get along this year as well…”
And then Madara laughed, lifting him in the air as if Itaru wasn’t a grown up man and this was all too easy, twirling him around a couple of times before letting him down in the ground. It was so unexpected and somehow ridiculous he couldn’t help but laugh as well… a hearty laugh, not very common to him.
“Let’s grab some pizza on our way back” he suggested, tangling his fingers with Madara as they started to walk again.
The sound of a familiar yet unknown melody awoke Wataru. A beautiful yet melancholy tune dragged him through a familiar yet unfamiliar home until he encountered Nagisa tapping away at the keys of a piano.
He slipped next to him on the piano bench and rest his head on the other’s shoulder as he continued to play. “It’s beautiful Nagisa-kun. A song of your soul.”
Coming all the way to Akounri had certainly thrown Ibara’s plans out of place. He had to leave his agency in someone else’s care and make all too many arrangements for living and studying and working. But it was Excellency’s wish to come all the way here -and why specifically here he didn’t knew, nor even whether there was a clear reason or it was merely a random caprice to pick these cities and no other- and Your Highness’ whim to come along, so he had sucked it up and done his work.
And well... even if he might have been able to either convince them to stay in Japan, or even break apart from their group... There was something magical in His Excellency’s eyes and smile. Something that made him want to stay with him and help him out if he could... of course! Such a great weapon can’t just be left alone!
So here they were, many miles away from home, getting all busy with work and school and extra activities and what not. And even here Ibara was doing his part, and helping Nagisa by designing plans for him to follow. It was very helpful with all the many things Nagisa had wished to challenge too!
“Excellency!" he called out practically by instinct, eyes catching on the sight of a spaced out Nagisa idly sitting in the living room when he was planning to walk upstairs to his own room “Is something the matter? If it is in my power, I shall do anything to be of aid! Just say the word and I, Ibara Saegusa, will go to the ends of the very earth for you!”
