Work Text:
Writing on his worksheet, Hirose is trying his best to finish his work as soon as possible. It’s not particularly hard work, but he knows that if he doesn’t do it now he’ll forget to do it as homework and get in trouble (again).
Some others have stayed behind, but the number slowly trickles down as the loud chatter in the classroom becomes only a few quiet conversations.
One of those conversations includes Nakamura and Kawamura, the former having speedwalk to her with a nervous but hopeful look when the bell rang. To say Hirose was nosy would be an overstatement, he just happens to hear some of their conversation while writing.
“It’s no problem, it’s honestly fun to draw both you and-” Kawamura’s interrupted by a violent cough. Like, loud enough he turns around to make sure Nakamura’s lungs are still in his chest functioning properly.
“I’m fine!” His face is red as he looks around the classroom with all eyes directed at him. Hirose smiles when he catches his gaze; Nakamura gives a shaky smile back.
Okay, time to go back to working on this assignment while being in the vicinity of a conversation in earshot. Not snooping.
“A-anyways, I was hoping you could… draw another one,” he mumbles so quietly Hirose could barely hear it.
“So soon?” she asks, confusion in her voice. “Usually that’s enough for a week or two.”
“I know but, it’s my birthday tomorrow so I thought it’d be nice,” he says sheepishly. Hirose perked up at that, even stopping the scrawl of his pencil. How did he not know Nakamura’s birthday was coming up? Out of all the things he hasn’t asked the boy, did he seriously forget to ask for his birthday?
Nakamura continues, “Nevermind, that’s a lot to ask of you so just forget-”
“I’ll do it!” Kawamura says, determined. “I’ll make it the best birthday comic ever!”
“T-thanks. But you’re being too loud right now..” Hirose jumps a little in his seat as he feels eyes on him. Was he not being as discreet as he thought?
“Oh, gotcha,” she replies. “I probably shouldn’t spoil the surprise but… I might even have time to color it in if I stay up all night.”
“Really?!” Nakamura exclaims, sounding ecstatic. What type of comic did he even ask for anyways?
“Oh w-wait, you shouldn’t stay up just to do that for me!” he says. But it’s clear from his voice he wants her to; guilty conscience aside.
“Don’t worry about it, it’ll be good practice for me,” she says, sounding chipper despite the workload she’s putting on herself. Hirose feels lazy now, when he gets home he usually goes on his phone or takes a nap…
He sighs; finished worksheet in hand. He won’t admit to himself he was eavesdropping, and now he has no reason to be here.
Packing up his things, he begrudgingly heads for the door. “Bye Nakamura! Bye Kawamura!”
“B-bye!” Nakamura waves slowly as his crush walks out the door. It was nerve wracking talking about a comic about him and Hirose in front of him, but he’s pretty sure he’s in the clear. Otherwise he would’ve said something, right? Just imagining it is giving him chills.
“See you tomorrow!” Kawamura says, before turning back towards her friend. “Like I said, staying up isn’t a big deal. I haven’t been getting much sleep anyways because of this new manga I found.”
“Is it… you know?” Nakamura whispers.
“Yup!” she giggles, already used to the fact Nakamura likes BL manga and is gay himself. She’d been sad when she first found out because of her past crush on him, but she should’ve guessed after she asked her to draw him and his crush galloping in the sunset hand in hand. Yeah… she’d been really clueless back then. Yikes.
“What’s the name?”
“I thought you’d never ask!” she eagerly pulls out a volume she had in her bag, ready to convert him into another fandom.
—---------------------------
“Hmm…” Hirose frowns on his bed as he looks up at his phone.
‘I have to do something for Nakamura’s birthday, but I can’t draw like Kawamura…’
He googled present ideas on his walk home, but the results had been frustrating. Searching for unique birthday gifts had set him down a rabbit hole of arts and crafts that was far beyond his elementary skill level of making mac-and-cheese art. And things like candles and toasters? Might as well give him a giftcard; those gifts would be too shallow to give to a close friend.
‘What does Nakamura like?’ he ponders.
‘Octopi and other sea life.’ he could say definitely. ‘He’s mentioned reading a lot once, but never said what genre he reads.’
‘But… if anyone would know it would be Kawamura!’
—----------
He doesn’t have much time, considering the fact today is Nakamura’s birthday, so he quickly pulls Kawamura aside before the morning bell rings. Said boy doesn’t notice his friends leaving the classroom, too busy reading something underneath his desk. Hirose would bet that it’s whatever comic Kawamura drew him yesterday.
He makes sure the hallway is completely empty before speaking. “Do you know what kind of books Nakamura likes?”
She jumps a bit. “The books!?”
“Yes..?” he frowns. “I wanted to know what I could get him as a birthday gift.”
“O-oh, makes sense!” she laughs.
Hirose looks to the side, relieved she can help. “I’ve been thinking about it since yesterday, but I have no clue what type of books he reads! How crazy is that?”
“Not that crazy…” she mumbles.
They stand there in silence for a moment; Hirose waiting expectantly and Kawamura squirming anxiously.
“...Kawamura?” he says tentatively.
“Y-yes?” she jumps.
“Class is about to start,” he looks at the clock on the wall, signifying that they only had 2 minutes before they had to be inside their classroom.
“Sorry! It’s just… Nakamura doesn’t have a consistent genre he likes,” she looks off to the side.
“Really?” Hirose furrows his brow.
“Yeah, your safest bet is getting him a shonen manga,” she says weakly.
“Really?” He repeats, skeptical. No offense to the boy, but he couldn’t imagine him reading shonen with the enthusiastic face he gets when he’s reading his books.
“Yes…?”
“Alright then, thanks for the help” he sighs. “I was hoping there was a specific series he’d like, but I guess I’m back to square one.”
Kawamura looks at him for a second, seemingly gathering up her nerve, before responding. “Do you want to know what I think he’d like?”
He looks up at her, curious. “What?”
“To hang out with you,” she smiles. “Honestly, I think he’d enjoy spending time with you over any material gift.”
Hirose blushes, unable to contain his giddy smile. “You really think so?”
“I know so!” she says passionately. “He’ll like that way more than my present!”
“I don’t know if that’s possible,” he laughs. “Your last drawing brought him to tears. You’re really talented.”
“Thank you!” she huffs proudly.
“You two never let me see what it is you draw for him though… Is it a sort of secret?” he grins conspiratorily.
“That’s-!” she freezes up. He has to admit, he’s really curious what could make the two so secretive about it. He doesn’t want to stress them out though. He learned his lesson after Nakamura almost keeled over the one time he asked.
“Just kidding, Nakamura can show me when he’s ready. If that’s alright with you?”
“It is,” she looks down defeatedly. “I lost all shame after last time… there’s nothing worse that could happen.”
“That sounds like a story,” he grins.
Before she could respond, the bell rang and the last of the stray students booked it to their classrooms. Despite them being right outside their own, they should head inside soon. The teachers who survey the hallways for late students are brutal. If he got detention, how was he supposed to hang out with Nakamura for his birthday?
“Hope I was some help,” Kawamura says.
“You were,” he nods. “In fact, I think I have a perfect idea…”
—----------
“Hello?” His sister says on the other end of the call. “Is something wrong?”
“No, I just-”
“Do you need me to bring you extensions and a dress again?” he can hear the grin in her voice, and his face blooms in red.
“No!” he shouts indignantly. “I’m not even in the theater club!”
“Didn’t stop you last time,” she says, feigning innocence.
“Forget it, that’s not what I called you for,” he huffs. “Can you tell mom and dad I’m getting home a little late?”
“Okay, but what for?” she asks.
“It’s my friend’s birthday, so I wanted to do something nice for him,” he replies cautiously, having a feeling her response is going to be embarrassing.
“Oo~ is this the friend?” she laughs.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” he lies, blushing.
“Don’t act coy, I know you didn’t say exactly who it was for a reason,” she prods. “What was the boy’s name again? Nagi… Natsu..?”
“Nakamura,” he sighs in frustration. He doesn’t know if she actually didn’t remember his name, or just wanted him to admit it.
“Right!” She exclaims. “I bet you want to make his birthday extra special for him, right?”
“Please stop,” he groans. “I’ve told you a million times it isn’t like that.”
“Oh please!” she scoffs, “A sister knows everything.”
‘Except when to mind her business.’ he grumbles internally. He couldn’t say that out loud though, or she’ll catch a fit.
“Do you want me to pick up a cake before I get home?” She says enthusiastically. “That’ll surely impress him.”
He wants to get mad at her, but she’s right. Anyone would want a birthday cake on their birthday.
“Yes please…” he concedes, “Make sure you get his name right for the worker.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure there’s a wonderful message on the cake for him,” she says, little breaths of laughter in between her words. The minute her brother protests on the other side of the call she erupts into giggles.
“Why is this my life…” he shakes his head disappointedly. It takes him a minute before his racing heart beat calms down enough for him to tell her the details of his plans she interrogates him for.
—---------------------
The hours are ticking down rapidly, and Hirose only has two more classes until the end of the day. He needs to ask Nakamura if he can hang out, but he has one more question he needs to ask before.
Instead of doing the classwork handed by Mr. Otogiri, he does a 180 in his chair to face Takeuchi; whose absentmindedly scrolling on his phone.
“Do you have your camera today, Takeuchi?” he asks hopefully.
“Huh?” he looks up from his phone, snapping out of his bored haze. “I think so, why?”
Hirose sneaks glances to the back of the class, checking to see if Nakamura is listening in. “It’s Nakamura’s birthday, so I wanted to take some photos with him when we hang out.”
He lifts his eyebrow. “Don’t girls usually want to take birthday photos?”
“Birthday photos are gender neutral.” Hirose deadpans. “Last year you took a bunch of photos on your birthday.”
“That’s because I was surrounded by chicks,” he blushes smugly. “My birthday party was the best out of the whole class hands down.”
Oomori, who had actually been doing his worksheet, chimed in from his seat behind Takeuchi. “What about birthdays?”
“It’s Nakamura’s.” Takeuchi says blankly, not caring to keep his volume down.
“Oh really? I should say something to him before the end of the day,” Oomori hums.
“Shh! Not so loud!” Hirose gestures his head to the birthday boy sitting in the back of the class.
“My bad,” he shrugs. “Can I copy off your sheet when you’re done, Oomori?”
“No, last time we got in trouble and had to hold books over our heads for an hour straight,” he says firmly before looking over at his best friend. “Have you wished him a happy birthday yet?”
“Not yet, I don’t think he knows I know so I was planning on surprising him,” he looks to the side, slightly embarrassed saying it out loud.
“A surprise?” he asks.
“To the aquarium,” Hirose grins.
“Who wants to go to the aquarium on their birthday?” Takeuchi sticks out his tongue. “If anything, he’d want sushi more than seeing live fish.”
“No, Hirose has the right idea,” Oomori shakes his head. “After you went to join another group at Chinatown, he spent a lot of money to go to an aquarium. He was even going to go solo before Hirose decided to join him.”
“Really,” Takeuchi is clearly confused, but doesn’t question further; opting to go back on his phone. “To each their own I guess.”
“Does that mean I can borrow your camera?” Hirose sighs, realizing they got off topic. “The photo quality on that thing is way better than my phone.”
“I would hope so, I had to spend a shit ton of money on it,” he laughs, digging into his bag before carefully putting the camera along with its case on his table. “Take good care of it or you're paying for a new one.”
“Thank you,” he smiles, putting the camera in his bag for safekeeping.
Clack!
Hirose yelps as a ruler comes down on his head. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt; just enough force to have him jostle in his chair and have his friends snicker at him.
“Can’t you 3 at least wait until you’re done to start talking,” Mr. Otogiri says unimpressed.
Hirose looks down sheepishly, a little bummed he’s getting scolded by his favorite teacher. “Sorry.”
“I finished most of it,” Oomori murmurs awkwardly.
“My wrist was hurting so I took a break,” Takeuchi shrugged with no shame, and a few of their classmates laughed.
Remembering where they were Hirose turned around as casually as he could manage. Nakamura’s gaze met his, and they simultaneously whipped their eyes away from each other. Hirose resists the urge to cover his reddening ears in favor of bringing his attention back to his teacher.
“First off, put your phone away,” he taps lightly on his phone with his ruler. “And secondly, you didn’t even write your name yet. Same with you Hirose.”
“Sorry,” Hirose says again.
“Yeah, sorry,” Takeuchi repeats, reluctantly putting his phone in his pocket.
Mr. Otogiri sighs, walking back to his desk. “It’s not a lot of work, so you should all be able to finish it before class.”
“Oh also if I see you copying from Oomori Takeuchi, you’re going to be assigned extra homework.”
“Damnit,” the boy mumbles, sulking.
—----------------------------
Hirose tries to seem casual as he walks up to Nakamura’s desk. He walks loud enough that Nakamura can notice him, because he wants to prevent his friend from having a heart attack by sneaking up on him like last time.
“Hirose?” He questions.
“Hey, Nakamura,” he smiles. “When were you going to tell me it was your birthday?”
The boy gawks at him, before nervously looking off to the side. “Did Kawamura tell you?”
“Yeah,” he says, purposefully leaving out the fact he’d eavesdropped on the two’s conversation yesterday. “This is sort of last minute, but do you want to go to the aquarium with me? Its not far from here so we can walk.”
“Yes!” Nakamura shoots up from his seat.
“Okay then,” Hirose laughs at his enthusiasm. “Is there anything you have to do or can we go now?”
“Right now is fine!”
And from there, they don’t waste any time before going to one of the birthday boy’s favorite places.
—----------------------
They’d spent about 2 hours, ogling at fish and having casual conversation, before they decided it was time to head out. So swept up in being around his crush’s friend’s presence, he’d forgotten to mention the cake he’d gotten that was left sitting in his house.
Nakamura had been extremely flustered at first, before agreeing to go over to his house. Hirose guesses it’s because he doesn’t go over to friend’s houses often. His shy friend is so adorable sometimes, it makes him want to aggressively squeeze him in his fist like a little stress ball. That sort of thing is normal, right? Cuteness aggression, or whatever it’s called.
“Here’s my house,” he smiles, pointing.
“Oh! Uhm- it looks nice!” the birthday boy says enthusiastically.
“You haven’t even seen the inside yet,” he shook his head fondly, digging into his pocket to get his keys.
Opening his door, he dramatically bows and points his hand inside. “Guests go first.”
“Isn’t the saying girls go first?” Nakamura chuckles, trying to find a lightswitch as he walks inside. He quickly takes his shoes off, like if he even steps a foot into the house without doing so he’ll be damned to eternal suffering and scolding from the homeowners.
“Uh, Hirose? I can’t find the ligh- Arghh!” he yelps as his hand brushes against something that is most definitely not a lightswitch.
“Happy Birthday!” he’s not given a moment to adjust to the light before a chorus of cheers echo throughout the house.
“Huh?” he looks confusedly at Hirose, who’s grinning from the doorway.
“Got ya’ good, didn’t I?” he walks over to give Nakamura a fond shove to the shoulder. “What kind of birthday is it without a party?”
“A peaceful one,” Masako joked lightheartedly. “Everyone got invited last minute, so it was chaotic to set this all up.”
Nakamura’s eyes gleamed as he looked at the room decorated with balloons and two sets of streamers that sit on the table waiting to be used. Hirose could admit it wasn’t much appearance wise, but it didn’t matter when the birthday boy looked like he was about to cry over it. The expression alone made setting this all up worth it.
“How did you convince everyone to come here on such short notice?” Oomori asked.
“Well I came here for the cake,” Takeuchi chimed in.
“We know,” half the room said deadpan, most likely having heard about it the whole time they were decorating the room.
“Whatever it was, thank you,” Nakamura looked at Hirose with a wobbly smile. “I think this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
“No, I know it is!” he adds on, like the boy would be offended if he hadn’t.
“I’m not sure about all of that, but you’re welcome,” Hirose laughed.
—-- Lowkey want to move on from this fic so sorry the endings flat :( need to move on to bigger and better things (more gfink fics) —-------