Work Text:
Please let me linger for now
Enveloped in your sound
Summer vacation is usually spent doing fun things like having fun with friends, staying up late and playing video games, going on trips to the amusement park or to the beach to beat the heat and swim in the coolness of the ocean.
Tsurugi is spending his summer vacation doing none of those fun things.
It was three years ago when Tsurugi and Yuka's parents got a divorce; they stayed with their mother at the family estate in Kyoto, while their father moved to Tokyo, working as a professor at the university.
Every summer, Yuka goes to stay with their father in Tokyo for three weeks, having a better relationship with him than Tsurugi does, and she always tries to convince Tsurugi to give their father a chance, but it never works.
Tsurugi wants nothing to do with that man; the last time he saw his father was at his grandfather's funeral service — Iori didn't stay long, just spent enough time to say goodbye to his late father, hug Yuka, and then took his leave.
They did not utter a single word to each other; perhaps his father did spare him a glance, but Tsurugi had not been willing to meet his gaze nor did he want to.
It's the second week of summer vacation and Tsurugi has already finished all of his homework ahead of time, getting it all out of the way, because this summer, Tsurugi has made plans to spend most of his free time with Maru.
It's a nice feeling to know that Maru, whom Tsurugi developed a crush on in their first year of high school, shared the same feelings; the confession wasn't anything special, it just happened when they were walking home from school.
💚🎶🖤
“Tsurugi, have you ever been in love before?” Maru had asked, completely unprompted.
It wasn't a secret that the girls veered away from Tsurugi due to his appearance; sharp eyes, thin brows arched downwards, and a prominent frown, he comes across as cold and unapproachable.
“Nah, what about you, Maru?”
Despite clicking so well with Maru upon entering high school, Tsurugi had felt he hardly knew much about Maru; someone as approachable, warm, and kind surely had many people pursuing him.
“I've never been in love either!” Maru had answered honestly, taking Tsurugi by surprise.
"Really?”
At that moment, Tsurugi felt something stirring within himself; Maru had never been in love either, there had to be a reason, other than not being interested in anyone.
“My dad told me and Cross that we shouldn't give our hearts away to just anyone.”
Maru had kept his gaze on Tsurugi the entire time he spoke, he's not a subtle person in the slightest and Tsurugi couldn't be more grateful for it — he isn't great at picking up on hints or reading in-between the lines.
“Makes sense…”
The only love advice Tsurugi had ever received was from his late grandfather and it was to treat girls like butterflies or flowers, but Tsurugi wasn't particularly interested in girls.
“Hey, Tsurugi, can I ask you something?”
Tsurugi used to believe there was something wrong with him; Yuka always had crushes on boys in her grade, a new boy every week or so it seemed, but for Tsurugi, nobody ever seemed to pique his interest — everyone felt like a passerby in his life, here for a moment and then gone the next.
“Sure.”
The two of them hadn't been in any hurry on the walk home from school, always taking the time to enjoy the presence of each other's company and all the mundane things that can be overlooked when rushing through life such as how the cats love to lounge in the sun on a beautiful day, how many people prefer to bike than to drive, the unique sounds different birds make when chirping in the distance.
“If I gave you my heart, would you accept it?”
How soft Maru's hand is when he reaches out to take Tsurugi's with no hesitation for he knows Tsurugi would never decline him.
“Only if you'll accept mine.”
The way their fingers slot together perfectly to fill in the empty spaces, a match made to be.
“You mean it!?”
The way Maru's three eyes are Tsurugi's favorite shade of green, a color he never cared much for until the day he met Maru.
“You're not exactly subtle, Maru.”
Tsurugi's days are the brightest when he's with Maru; they had once been two strangers that just happened to end up in the same school and class, but it was their natural curiosity of the other that led to them becoming friends and that friendship blossomed into something beautiful.
“I can say the same thing about you, Tsurugi!”
When Maru grins, his crooked bottom teeth are noticeable; he's far too self conscious about the way he looks, fretting over making sure appears as “human” as possible.
Just as Maru brought joy into Tsurugi's dull world, filling it with vibrant colors, the one who accepted Maru for who he is and helped him to love all the things he was insecure about was Tsurugi.
Getting Maru to stop wearing the bandaid over his third eye was a step in the right direction; if anyone gave him any fuss, Tsurugi would handle it.
When Maru laughs heartily, there's a high chance he'll accidentally snort and the first time it happened, he froze in place and began to turn red in the face, apologizing immediately for doing so — Tsurugi didn't see the issue, he found it endearing that Maru laughed so hard at his stupid joke it made him snort.
Maru is too harsh on himself; he compares himself to his twin brother, Cross, wishing he could be smarter, musically and artistically talented and just pretty much everything that he isn't.
If Maru had been exactly like Cross, Tsurugi doesn't think they would've become such close companions; Maru's a fun person to be around, he can find something positive about a rainy day, he finds joy in the smallest things, and he doesn't make assumptions about people based on looks.
“So what does this make us, Maru?”
Tsurugi had not the faintest idea of how relationships worked, all he knew was that he liked Maru more than just his best friend and that the feeling was very much mutual on Maru's end.
“We can be whatever you want us to be, Tsurugi!”
It was in that moment Tsurugi understood the story his grandfather told him and Yuka about how meeting their grandmother Maki changed his life for the better: he knew from the very first day that he wanted to be the one who stood by her side, holding her hand, and being the reason she smiled.
Tsurugi couldn't imagine a future that doesn't have Maru in it; even if things fizzle out because it's just a case of puppy love, Maru's carved out a cozy little home for himself in Tsurugi's heart and permanently etched himself into every corner of Tsurugi's mind.
“For now, let's just continue to be what we are, Maru.”
Neither felt a strong need to label what they had at that moment, they were simply Tsurugi and Maru.
Their romantic feelings didn't change anything between them, it simply brought them closer and was the start of a new chapter in their lives.
“I like that,” Maru nodded, swinging their hands gleefully as they walked. “I'll be your Maru, and you'll be my Tsurugi!”
Tsurugi knew, right then and there, that he loved Maru — as a person, as his best friend, as a romantic partner.
There was no other way for Tsurugi to describe what the feeling was of holding Maru's hand on the walk home from school, listening to him talk about anything and everything, feeling the thumping of his heart on his chest and the fluttering of butterflies in the pits of his belly other than true authentic love.
“Works for me.”
💚🎶🖤
Tsurugi's standing in front of the open doors of the storage shed, already dreading the daunting chore of removing all those boxes covered in thick layers of dust and cobwebs that have accumulated over the years.
Some of the boxes date back to the early 2020's, longer than Tsurugi and Yuka have been alive — the shed itself can be considered a time capsule for all the things his grandfather owned during his lifetime, ranging from his days as a hormonal teenager with an anxiety disorder to becoming a high school math teacher that was beloved by all his students.
The dread of having to sort through all those boxes was diminished upon a ding from his phone, an indicator he had a new message.
[Maru: hiii! i just got back home! can i come see you? 😄]
If Tsurugi recalls correctly, today was an important day for Rumelians — something about it being the birth of their deity the Great Kalyan — and Maru had gone with his father and brother to the Naunax located in Tokyo for worship.
It's a five hour drive from Kyoto to Tokyo; while Tsurugi does want to see Maru and would never decline to hang out with him, he doesn't want Maru to come over and get roped into cleaning out the storage shed with him after sitting in the car for so long.
Maru is someone who absolutely cannot sit still for more than a few minutes and would start helping, even if Tsurugi told Maru to just hang out on the engawa with snacks he'd prepared for him; Maru would just stuff the snacks in his mouth and proceed to help with the cleaning.
[Tsurugi: aren't you tired?]
[Maru: i took a nap on the ride back home! 😆]
[Tsurugi: okay, i'm in the back cleaning out the storage shed so use the side entrance]
[Maru: i'll see you soon! ☺️]
While waiting for Maru to make his arrival, Tsurugi should really start getting stuff out of the storage shed, lest his mother finds him slacking and decides to tack on the arduous task of cleaning out the dusty attic next.
Standing in front of the storage shed, Tsurugi unlocks the door and shoves the set of keys in his pocket, proceeding to push the door open, having to cover his mouth and nose with his arm to prevent inhaling any of the dust he'd disturbed.
Tsurugi wonders when was the last time this storage shed was ever opened; most likely before his grandfather passed away in the spring of 2080.
All the boxes full of priceless memories had been left untouched and taped closed for years, some with words written on them in black marker and some that didn't have any writing on them to indicate what was inside or who they belonged to.
Most of this stuff should belong to Tsurugi's late grandfather, but he's certain he can recall his granny Maki coming in here, following the passing of her sister, when her health didn't keep her confined inside of the house and her mobility wasn't limited.
It was always in the very late afternoon hours, when the sun was peeking through the clouds not ready to say goodbye to their side of the world just yet, that Tsurugi would catch a glimpse of his grandma's figure in the small window of the storage shed, lingering inside, her back was always turned so he could never tell what kind of expression she was making as she spent time inside the shed.
Tsurugi never questioned it; there are some things that are better left unsaid — grandparents just have an extreme emotional attachment to things that he and Yuka only see as ancient technology or mere scraps of paper.
Maybe when Tsurugi is older, he'll learn to appreciate things like receipts and tickets and physical photos — everything in this era can be done via tapping on a screen, inputting basic information, and then completing the payment, the confirmation being vanquished to the email address's junk mail section.
In a way, Maru's similar about holding onto things that have little value — a candy wrapper from their first year of high school, the receipt from a 7/11 for drinks and snacks they'd stocked up on to get them through study sessions, tickets to the amusement park, but Tsurugi can understand why Maru was adamant on keeping it, that was where they had their first date.
It might be too early in life for Tsurugi to be sentimental over things, but he does have a very strong attachment to the photos he took with Maru at a photo booth — the time Yuka asked for a closer look, Tsurugi refused to let her touch them; he held them out for her to see, but she had to keep her hands off, he didn't want her fingerprints getting on the photos or for them to accidentally get torn.
Pulling out the first few boxes and setting them outside, Tsurugi discovers the soccer ball that he and Yuka had lost years ago and despite how high and low they searched the yard, it was nowhere to be found.
Tsurugi assumes his mother probably found it while weeding her flower garden and tossed it into the storage shed; it's halfway deflated and covered in dried mud, so it will be the first item to start off the “trash” pile.
One person's trash is another person's treasure;, though, Tsurugi doesn't believe half of these boxes are full of things he could call treasure.
Maybe his and Yuka's old toys and books they grew out of can be considered treasure to those less fortunate than them, but is there any need for board games that are missing many pieces or vinyl records when everyone has moved to streaming services?
The first time Tsurugi ever saw a record player was when Maru invited him over to his house; Maru's father, Dura, has a whole selection of vinyls lining the wall and there'd always be one playing softly in the background.
Tsurugi will set the box full of vinyls aside for now; he'll check with his mother and see if they belong to his grandfather or his father before he gives them to Maru to take home — they'd be better suited with someone who can cherish them and play them, instead of being taped away in a box and left to be forgotten about in a storage shed.
Five boxes have already been pulled out and set aside, yet the mountain made up of boxes has not decreased; even with Maru's help, it's going to take a few days to get everything pulled out, sorted, and then they'll have to clean the interior of the storage shed.
Yuka just had to conveniently take off for Tokyo the week their mother decided the storage shed needed to be cleaned, but on the plus side, at least she won't be here to third wheel him and Maru.
Between the storage shed and the attic, Tsurugi would take the one where he doesn't have to go up a rickety ladder into such a small space and risk hurting himself or damaging anything in the boxes they're storing up there.
Tsurugi thinks he'll pass along a hint to their mother that Yuka hasn't done any of her summer homework and she needs something to motivate her — something like cleaning the attic should suffice.
It's only fair Yuka gets attic duty while Tsurugi gets to enjoy summer vacation doing something he enjoys with Maru.
💚🎶🖤
It's around 2:30 PM when Maru arrives; Tsurugi had, coincidentally, decided to take a break from hauling boxes out to sit on the engawa after he got the text Maru was almost at his house.
It's quite an astonishing feat that Tsurugi managed to end up with such a cute boy like Maru; nothing drastically changed regarding their relationship, they still treat each other the same way as when they were just best friends, they just unlocked the romantic interactions like kissing, hand holding, cuddling, and flirtatious banter.
“Tsurugi!” Maru exclaims, waving his hand with a wide grin as he paces towards Tsurugi.
Hopping to his feet to meet Maru halfway, it's impossible for Tsurugi to keep himself from grinning seeing Maru; he just has this natural way of bringing out the best side of Tsurugi, a side reserved for only a select few.
Maru wastes not a single second in running up to Tsurugi, throwing his arms around him in a tight embrace.
“I missed you!”
Tsurugi fights back the urge to laugh as he returns the embrace; Maru's slightly shorter than him, but he fits perfectly in Tsurugi's arms, not leaving any space between their bodies.
“I called you Friday afternoon, Maru,” Tsurugi says, reminding Maru of their lengthy phone call.
Even when they run out of things to talk about, they stay on call just to hear the other’s voice on the other end until their parents call for them to do something or one of them falls asleep.
“Yeah, but that doesn't count!” Maru huffs, green eyes staring straight into Tsurugi's and making his heart flutter.
“We were on video call for three hours last night, Maru.”
Maru had called at 8 PM with a conundrum about a math problem he was having difficulty with — an excuse just to see and talk to Tsurugi, because he could've easily asked Cross for help but chose not to.
“That doesn't count either!”
Teasing Maru is one of Tsurugi's favorite things to do; it's all in good fun, he'd never cross any lines to make Maru uncomfortable or intentionally upset him.
If Maru ever did feel hurt by Tsurugi's teasing, he'd firmly tell him to stop and Tsurugi would immediately do so — fortunately, that has yet to happen; Maru plays along with the teasing, knowing it's just another form of how Tsurugi shows love.
“Then what does count?”
Tsurugi already knows the answer, he just likes to hear Maru say it aloud.
“Seeing you in person! Getting to hug you, feeling your warmth, taking in your scent, just being able to hang out with you like this.”
Tsurugi isn't great with words, he's more of a “actions speak louder than words” kind of person, while Maru easily conveys the feeling of being in love into words.
“Most people wouldn't be so excited to clean out a storage shed that they rush all the way over here after coming home from worship.”
There's nothing exciting about dusty boxes that trigger multiple sneezes in a row; Tsurugi would rather be doing anything else but this, and what makes it worse is that he's going to have to write an essay on what he did over summer vacation when returning back to school.
What Usami-sensei will garner from what his students did over the summer, Tsurugi didn't bother to ask, he just does what his teacher requests.
“I'm not like most people,” Maru replies softly; in a world full of people that expect others to fit into the mold, Maru had difficulty finding his place both within his own community — the Rumelians — and the regular Japanese people.
“I wouldn't want you to be like everyone else,” Tsurugi remarks, his hands cupping Maru's chubby cheeks. “You'd lose all the things that make you unique.”
In their first year of high school, Maru had been trying to fit in amongst their peers by plastering a bandaid over his third eye and forcing himself to tone down how much he spoke and being overly cautious when he interacted with others.
Tsurugi couldn't pinpoint the exact moment he knew he liked Maru as more than just his best friend, the feelings just blossomed inside of him like the cherry blossoms in spring and it wasn't until their second year that Tsurugi's inner turmoil began to drive him insane.
Same-sex marriage had been legalized long before Tsurugi was born, and most people won’t bat an eye about a same sex couple in public, but there's still a very vocal crowd that is against it.
Tsurugi's parents don't care — well, his mother doesn't, his father's opinion is irrelevant — what gender he prefers to date, just that he maintains his grades and doesn't slack on his studies.
It's a bit different for Maru; Rumelians are very traditional and the majority have a viewpoint that a relationship should be between a man and woman — only Maru's father, brother, and uncle Jabaloma know that he has a preference for men.
When Maru told Tsurugi his secret at the end of their first year, he'd been scared it would ruin their friendship, that Tsurugi would think he was disgusting and want nothing to do with him and he'd be alone again.
Tsurugi would never view Maru as disgusting; finding someone just like him, the same age and at the same school, was a rarity — they had their siblings and family to rely on for support, yes, but the two of them became each other’s anchor in the treacherous waters of society where people were like monsters, waiting in the shadows for the right moment to tear them apart for being different.
No matter what the future holds, Tsurugi would never allow anything to come between him and Maru; he's been angry at life for so long over things out of control — his grandparents passing, his parents divorce, his father being distant — that meeting Maru that day in April in the empty classroom, Tsurugi felt like life was starting to take a turn for the better.
Tsurugi's glad he gave in to that urge to befriend Maru and struck up a conversation with him; he gained not just a boyfriend, but a best friend, a confidant, a soulmate.
“You're so cheesy today, Tsurugi,” Maru murmurs, closing all three of his eyes and tilting his head upwards with parted lips.
This is Tsurugi's first relationship, and he's very uncertain about a lot of things a boyfriend should be doing, but he does know what Maru likes and what makes him happy.
Kissing Maru, Tsurugi is met with the faint taste of strawberry from the brand of chapstick Maru uses because his lips get dry and cracked easily.
The way Maru likes to tightly clutch the fabric of Tsurugi's jacket or shirt with his fingers.
How Maru's greedy and never satisfied with just one kiss, so Tsurugi makes sure to kiss him until he's satisfied — nothing too passionate where their tongues are exploring each other's palette and risking getting aroused, they have a job to do, but their lips do linger for longer than three brief seconds.
Tsurugi allows Maru to get one last kiss in — the least he could do, considering Maru is going to help him with the cleaning — before he has to pull apart and get them back on track.
“Maru,” Tsurugi breathes, gently pushing Maru off of him. “We gotta stop now or we'll get nothing done.”
If they didn't have an assigned task, Tsurugi wouldn't mind spending all day just kissing Maru until their lips were sore, but alas, they have work to do.
It takes a few seconds for Maru to snap back to reality, shaking away all the distracting thoughts that cloud his mind.
“What do we need to do with the boxes?” Maru glances at the ones Tsurugi had already set aside with genuine curiosity, his green eyes twinkling at what wonders could be hiding inside.
“We need to get all of the boxes out, sort through what's inside, then put stuff like broken junk into one pile and stuff that can be donated into another.”
Tsurugi doesn't think even with two people that they can get everything done in one day and he doesn't want to put any unnecessary strain on Maru's muscles and leave him feeling sore.
They can split the task up with Tsurugi handling the heavier boxes, since he's stronger, while Maru gets the lighter ones.
“Got it!” Maru nods, stepping into the shed to begin the process of picking out a box.
“Are you sure you want to help, Maru? I don't want your clothes getting dirty.”
Any other person would change their clothes before coming over to do cleaning, while Maru had been so excited to see Tsurugi again that he forgot to change out of his worship clothes before biking over.
“It's fine,” Maru waves off any concerns Tsurugi has about his clothes getting dirty. “I can wash them later.”
Tsurugi won't argue about it; if Maru says it's fine, then he won't bring it up again.
In the situation where Maru's clothes get too dirty from all the dust, Tsurugi can just lend him a shirt and shorts to wear.
They work well together; Maru doesn't let any silence fall between them, filling the stale air with his voice, as they carry box after box outside.
Whenever Maru came across one that required two people to carry, Tsurugi would help by lifting the other end and they'd carefully shimmy out of the shed.
They've made great progress; Tsurugi can see part of the floor now, and it desperately needs a good mopping, but that will have to come last — they probably won't get around to that until later on in the week.
Tsurugi's grown tired of both carrying boxes and looking at them; he's about to ask Maru if he wants to take a snack break, when he hears Maru make a noise of exclamation.
“Oh! Tsurugi, question!” Maru glances over his shoulder, curiosity growing with each second.
“What's up?”
Tsurugi wonders if Maru had found something that predates their parents and is curious about what it is.
“What was the name of your grandfather again?”
It seems Maru stumbled upon something that belonged to Tsurugi's late grandfather; most likely stuff that he put away in storage when he was still alive.
“Yuta Okkotsu.”
Maru grins, holding up the box that had been duct tapped shut in every direction possible.
“This box has his name written on it!”
Tsurugi can't deny that he's curious about what stuff his grandpa packed away in that box; there's definitely nothing valuable in it, that stuff would've been left in the house, but it must hold priceless mementos that meant something to the man during his lifetime.
“You wanna open it up and see what's inside?”
Maru's smile wanes slightly; he must be deliberating in his head whether it's okay to invade someone's privacy like this, even if that person has long since departed from this world.
“Is that okay?” Maru asks softly; he's curious as well, but he doesn't want to make Tsurugi uncomfortable by perusing through his late grandfather's personal belongings.
“It's been collecting dust for years, grandpa would be glad someone's interested in his stuff.”
If they do stumble upon anything personal, like a private journal, they can just avert their eyes and place it at the bottom of the box to let it remain private.
The sound of Maru's stomach growling decided their next course of action would be taking a break to eat something; food will fuel them for the remainder of the day and give them energy to sort through what's already outside — that is, if they get around to it; they're both dying to know what's inside grandpa Yuta's box.
“I'm kinda hungry, are you?” Maru remarks sheepishly, much to Tsurugi's amusement.
“Starving,” Tsurugi replies, pulling up the delivery app on his smartwatch. “You want pizza, burgers, or fried chicken?”
Maru's not very picky when it comes to food, but he, like any other person, does have preferences and Tsurugi's memorized them all.
“Pizza with all the meat toppings, but no seafood!”
Maru never fails to amuse Tsurugi; he isn't fond of seafood in the slightest, but the one exception is takoyaki — he won't eat seafood, but will devour ball-shaped dumplings filled with diced octopus in record time.
“We're gonna need scissors to open the box, so go put the box on the engawa and I'll go grab some.”
Tsurugi could probably pull the tape apart, but the only thing written on the box is his grandfather's name, nothing of what it contains inside, and he doesn't want to risk the possibility of breaking something that held importance to his grandfather.
“Got it!” Maru nods, following Tsurugi out of the storage shed and navigating the maze of boxes they'd placed on the ground.
“Oh, by the way,” Tsurugi pauses, gathering Maru's attention, and points to one of the boxes. “There's some old vinyls in that box right there, do you think your dad would want them?”
“He should,” Maru says, glancing over at the box. “When we open it up, I'll take a picture of them and send it to him.”
Tsurugi has longer legs and tends to take longer strides — inherited from his grandfather who always walked surprisingly fast — and both his mother and Yuka would tell him to slow down, there was no need to walk so fast.
When Maru is by Tsurugi's side, Tsurugi will naturally match his pace; it's easier to talk to someone and enjoy their presence when they're walking right next to you.
It's going to be at least forty minutes before the pizza arrives, so they should go wash their hands and grab some chips to munch on while they wait.
This uneventful day is slowly turning into quite a memorable one.
Inside the house, Tsurugi and Maru remove their shoes before beelining to the kitchen sink to scrub their hands clean.
“Oh, Tsurugi, can you help me with something?”
It's extremely cliché, but Tsurugi would do anything for Maru; he wants to go to the amusement park? Tsurugi will get the tickets. He wants to build a snowfort? Tsurugi will make sure there's enough snow on the ground and the temperature isn't dangerously low. Hell, if Maru wanted to go to the moon to gaze at the Earth, Tsurugi would find a way to make it possible.
“Sure,” Tsurugi replies, digging around in the junk drawer for a pair of scissors.
“I need help leveling up my characters in Sorcerer Wars, because my team keeps dying,” Maru says sheepishly, referring to the online game the two of them play.
Tsurugi normally plays in solo mode; he isn't much of a team player and dislikes having people running around in his game world, looting resources, and using the wrong character for a boss battle.
It's different with Maru; he isn't great at the game, but he's improved tremendously with all the tips and help Tsurugi has given him — Maru's a quick learner, applying what he's learned in game and triumphing over the things that were giving him difficulty.
“Load up your game, I'll check your builds.”
Tsurugi sets the scissors he'd fished out of the drawer on the counter; he'd gone to the store last week to restock on his snacks and had discovered something interesting.
They had a new flavor of pringles available — limited edition karaage flavor — and Maru's favorite chips just so happen to be pringle; Tsurugi grabs a bag of spicy chips for his own snacking, and proceeds to set them on the table.
They've got time to kill before their pizza gets here, and Tsurugi will gladly accept any excuse to slack off on cleaning duties.
“Alright, let's see…”
Tsurugi loads up his own game and joins Maru in co-op mode, watching humorously as Maru's character runs circles around him.
Helping Maru out with tips or fixing his character builds isn't a tedious task; this is Tsurugi's favorite game, of course he's going to help his boyfriend get better at it.
Even if Tsurugi has to change all the DEF relics to Crit Rate and HP% to Atk% on Maru's DPS unit, it's time well spent because it makes Maru happy seeing his characters defeat enemies he'd been struggling with more easily.
Maru also doesn't mind when Tsurugi nerds out about what each character does, the best team comp, or whether he should pull on the latest character banner, he listens intently and gets excited along with Tsurugi.
Tsurugi could oneshot every boss in the game with ease, but he doesn't; he wants to enjoy playing with Maru, so he always uses an underbuilt, low level character whenever they play together.
It might take them a little longer to defeat overworld bosses and sometimes they both die, but Tsurugi doesn't mind at all.
Playing a game with Maru, that they both enjoy, is an enjoyable experience.
💚🎶🖤
The moment they've been waiting for has finally arrived: it's time to cut the tape, open up the box, and see what's inside.
Tsurugi had gotten the pizza when it was delivered, while Maru got the plates, napkins, and drinks set up and was waiting for him on the engawa.
“Alright, time to see what's inside,” Tsurugi states, cutting the tape with the scissors — hopefully there's nothing private that his grandfather wouldn't want anyone to see, that would be very awkward.
Pulling the flaps open, Tsurugi breathes a sigh of relief that the vision of his grandfather being a kindhearted man that loved his family wasn't shattered by the contents inside the box.
They find a small panda plushie, a green, disposable camera, a bunch of school notebooks, a class of 2019 yearbook, and a red iPod.
“I'm surprised this stuff is still in good condition,” Maru remarks, eyes wide as he looks at the objects inside like they're relics from a bygone civilization.
No surprise there; Tsurugi's grandfather was a man that took care of his things, never wanting to throw anything out and always used stuff until they no longer functioned or couldn't serve their intended purpose anymore.
Even when the world had started to move on from cell phones, the man was reluctant to let go of his phone that could hardly hold a charge and was unable to make calls, receive messages, or access the internet anymore.
“Yeah, grandpa was really sentimental and liked to keep everything,” Tsurugi says, grabbing one of the napkins so he can take a slice of pizza before Maru eats it all.
“He had a shoebox full of receipts, but after granny died, he told my mom she could get rid of it.”
Tsurugi omits the part about how his grandfather fell into a depression after grandmother Maki passed away and began to toss out things he no longer cared about and packed up boxes of his personal things to donate.
While Maru means the absolute world to Tsurugi and he doesn't like to lie to him, he doesn't need Maru to hear about how his grandfather had given up on life and had begun to wither away not long after his wife passed.
Maru doesn't question Tsurugi on why his grandfather would want to get rid of the receipts; he understands it's a sensitive subject and some things should be left unsaid.
“What's this?” Maru asks, picking up the iPod and turning it around in his hand to glance over it. “A phone?”
“I think it's an iPod,” Tsurugi answers, having seen one similar to this back when his parents were still together.
They've long been considered outdated technology and nobody uses them anymore, but Tsurugi remembers his father had one because it was a birthday gift from his grandfather — he preferred them over playing music from a subscription app.
“iPod?” Maru repeats, the word foreign on his tongue.
“You play music on it,” Tsurugi begins to explain. “Before streaming services became a thing, people would download songs on these things and plug headphones in to listen to music.”
Tsurugi thinks that explanation should suffice; he's never actually used one, since his father was very adamant on him and Yuka not touching his stuff without permission.
They did once, when he was away, only to discover their plan to find out what was on it had been thwarted due to it being locked and they didn't want to risk their father finding out they'd been messing with it, so they didn't attempt to guess the password and put it back.
Maru is quiet for a moment, all three eyes glued to his reflection on the black screen; Tsurugi knows what every expression Maru makes means — the current one means he's thinking deeply about something.
“Tsurugi,” Maru finally says, turning his gaze to Tsurugi with a smile. “Should we?”
They're on the same wavelength; Tsurugi smiles back at Maru, curiosity unable to be curbed until it is satiated.
“Charge it up? Yep, it might take a while, though.”
If it even still works; it's been years since it was last turned on and it's a miracle the battery hasn't gone bad and caused the iPod to puff up like a marshmallow.
“It's fine, I have time,” Maru says, taking a drink from his glass of iced tea.
If Maru's fine with waiting, then that's all the confirmation Tsurugi needs.
Tsurugi stretches his legs out, hoisting himself upwards and onto his feet, clutching the iPod in his hand.
“Okay, I'll go plug it in to my computer to charge and we'll see if it still works.”
There should be a pair of headphones in the study; unless Yuka took them, they should still be there, since nobody ever goes in there because it used to belong to Iori when he still lived at home.
“Take your time,” Maru waves him off, grabbing one of the notebooks to skim through it.
Tsurugi is certain they won't be returning to cleaning the storage shed today, but it's fine; Maru will probably drop an obvious hint that he wants to spend the night.
They can always make up for the time they spent going through his grandpa's stuff by getting a head start in the morning after breakfast.
Getting to know what grandpa Yuta was like when he was a teenager is more important to Tsurugi than cleaning.
Tsurugi loved both his grandparents unconditionally, but admittedly, he was always closer to his grandmother, while Yuka was a total grandpa's girl; he doesn't have many memories with his grandfather and he regrets not spending more time with him when he was still alive.
Going through grandpa Yuta's stuff with Maru, the most wonderful boy in the universe, who has carved a permanent space in Tsurugi's heart, will surely make him feel more connected to his late grandfather.
When Tsurugi returns, he finds Maru had been going through the journals but the curriculum was far different than what they study in 2087 so nothing makes sense.
“Tsurugi,” Maru whines, flopping onto his back to glance up at Tsurugi. “Just what were they teaching your grandparents back in 2019?”
Picking up the notebook, Tsurugi flips through all the notes that an eighteen year old Yuta Okkotsu had once sat at a desk in a classroom and wrote down.
Nothing ever remains the same, for even the way they take class notes is different; in 2087, they don't take notes on paper anymore and teachers don't use chalkboards, everything has gone fully digital.
Long are the days of writing on a chalkboard or using a pencil to jot down notes on paper; teachers will typically have everything prepared ahead of time and simply project the image onto a wall, while the students type them onto a blank word document with their smart devices.
When they have snow days and nobody can safely get to school, classes are held online through a group video call.
“Learn anything useful?” Tsurugi jests, taking his rightful spot next to Maru.
Maru groans in response, not wanting to think about school or learning while on summer break.
“Nothing that Usami-sensei didn't already cover at the start of the year.”
Closing the notebook and putting it aside, Tsurugi eyes the yearbook and is dying to show Maru what his grandparents looked like as teenagers.
“You wanna see what my grandpa looked like when he was our age?” Tsurugi asks, extending a hand for Maru.
Maru takes Tsurugi's hand to sit upright, scooting close to him and not leaving any empty space between their bodies.
“Yes! Yuka told me he was very good looking.”
Tsurugi can't hold back the laugh upon hearing Maru say those words; of course Yuka wouldn't pass up an opportunity to flatter their late grandfather to anyone she comes across.
“She's lying, grandpa looked like a huge dork.”
Tsurugi grabs the yearbook and begins to flip through it until he finds the page with his grandfather's class.
“See,” Tsurugi points to his grandfather's picture of him at eighteen, tapping it with the tip of his finger. “Total dork!”
Tsurugi's seen pictures before of his grandfather, Yuta Okkotsu, at age eighteen because his grandmother loved to show them off and embarrass their grandfather — always out of love — who helplessly tried to keep those pictures hidden from his grandchildren.
Messy, unkempt, overgrown black hair fell in Yuta's face, the heaviest dark circles imaginable lay under his eyes, eyes wide and staring anxiously at the camera, and Tsurugi swears he can see the faintest stain of blue toothpaste on the collar of his grandfather's white uniform jacket.
“He's so cute!” Maru utters, practically cooing over how dorky Tsurugi's grandfather looked in April of 2019. “Yuka totally takes after him; they have the same eyes.”
That they do; their father is a spitting image of grandpa Yuta, their mother's genes were powerless in the creation of Yuka; the older she got, the more her face began to resemble their grandfather's.
Dragging his finger across the page, Tsurugi finds the portrait of his late grandmother; she's not easy to mistake with her purple frame glasses and signature ponytail.
“And that's granny Maki,” Tsurugi smiles fondly; he misses her dearly, it's an ache that can never be vanquished, but she had lived life to its fullest and fulfilled every dream she had.
Some time in granny Maki's second year of high school, she'd changed up her hairstyle — she used to have sideswept bangs, but cut them into blunt bangs and also grew her hair out longer.
“She looks so cool! I love her glasses.”
Granny Maki stopped wearing glasses in adulthood after getting LASIK and neither Tsurugi or Yuka had poor vision, so there was no need for glasses.
As a child, Tsurugi used to lament that he had good eyesight and didn't need glasses because he wanted a pair to look cool like his granny.
“Say, Tsurugi,” Maru starts to say. “Would I look good in glasses?”
Tsurugi takes a moment to visualize what Maru would look like in glasses; he'd look adorable in anything because he has a round face with big eyes that give him a boyish charm, but trying to picture Maru with big, circular glasses or those thick, black framed ones…
“Nah, you'd look like a dork,” Tsurugi chuckles, earning a huff from Maru who takes faux offense to the answer.
“Rude!” Maru remarks, brows furrowed, cheeks puffed, and bottom lip pushed out to show his discontentment with being called a dork.
It's all in good fun; Maru perfectly plays along with Tsurugi's jokes and if a line was ever crossed, he'd tell Tsurugi that he didn't appreciate the joke.
“I'm just kidding,” Tsurugi says, ruffling Maru's unruly hair with his hand and eliciting a giggle from him.
“What did you think of me when we first met?” Maru asks, curious about their first meeting two years ago.
It seems going through grandpa Yuta's stuff had put Maru into a nostalgic mood and he wants to go on a trip down memory lane.
“Let's see…”
It's very cliché, but that day in April where Tsurugi met Maru in the classroom, the trajectory of his entire world changed for the better.
Tsurugi's mother was very strict about education, not wanting him to waste any opportunities, thus, he'd been separated from his junior high friends and sent to a private high school that would prepare him for his future.
It had been an unusually windy day; Tsurugi's hair that his mother had told him to comb out to make himself look presentable on the first day of high school had been completely tousled by the strong gusts and he had felt no urge to comb it back into place.
Escaping the crowd, Tsurugi had snuck off to beat his classmates into the classroom, wanting a moment of solace, only to discover someone else had the same idea.
That someone was Maru; his green hair held back with a black headband, the most stunning eyes Tsurugi had ever seen, red markings underneath his eyes and on his cheeks, and a bandaid plastered in the center of his forehead.
“Why are you wearing a bandaid?” Tsurugi had blurted out and he cringes every time he remembers those are the first words he ever said to Maru.
Maru had shifted his gaze down towards his feet, his fingers reaching up to tentatively touch the bandaid.
“Oh, um…I don't want to stand out.”
Tsurugi couldn't believe what he was wearing; Rumelians, to no fault of their own, tend to stand out whenever they go with their green hair, third eyes, and red markings.
“You stand out like a sore thumb.”
Maru had sighed, completely crestfallen at being told he didn't fit in, that he stood out amongst the others, and he felt out of place.
“My dad wouldn't let me dye my hair black or cover up the markings with concealer; he said school is a place to learn.”
Maru had rolled his eyes, exasperated that his father had told him to be himself instead of trying to change himself to fit others expectations.
“He's right, you shouldn't care about what other people think.”
It didn't matter to Tsurugi what other people thought of him; if they judged him based on his appearance or a single interaction, they weren't worthy of his time.
“It's hard not to…we just moved here and I don't know anyone, so I feel anxious…what if I can't fit in? What if people don't like me? What if they think I'm a freak?”
Maru, before he opened up and blossomed into his true extroverted personality, used to be quite anxious about everything and had this mindset that he needed to look like everyone else — dark hair, bare cheeks, no third eye — to be accepted.
“What's your name?”
Tsurugi couldn't explain why he was so intrigued by Maru when he could've ignored him and gone about the rest of the year treating him like a regular classmate he only sees during school hours.
It was best described as a feeling that treating Maru like anyone else wouldn't be right, there was something special about him and Tsurugi just had to know what it was.
“Huh? My name?” Maru had blinked in confusion; his anxious brain had caused him to start rambling before introducing himself.
“Do you Rumelians not introduce yourselves when you meet someone new?”
“Oh! Sorry, you're right.”
Maru had smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand before making eye contact with Tsurugi.
“I'm Marulu Val Vol Yelvori…you can just call me Maru.”
It's embarrassing to recount, because Tsurugi used to make fun of Yuka for claiming she got breathless when her crush said hello to her, but when they made eye contact, Tsurugi had almost forgotten how to breathe, for Maru's absolutely gorgeous.
“Tsurugi Okkotsu.”
“First year?”
“Yep.”
“Class 1-A?”
“I wouldn't be here, if I wasn't in this class, Maru.”
“Then…can I trouble you with something?” Maru had asked, awkwardly tugging on the hem of his black blazer.
“What is it?”
“Can I…can we…ugh…I want to be your friend because I don't have any!”
“Fine with me.” Tsurugi shrugged, focused on finding where his seat was.
“Really!?”
There had been no reason for Tsurugi to tell Maru he didn't want to be friends; he doesn't like people who beat around the bush or conceal their true thoughts, he prefers genuine honesty, even if honesty hurts.
Maru stated what he wanted and the reason why he wanted it, with more honesty than some people would ever muster up in front of a stranger.
“I had to leave all of mine behind when I graduated junior high.”
Not that Tsurugi missed them; he missed the concept of having friends, not the people themselves.
They weren't exactly true friends — they didn't bother to stay in contact once junior high ended, all of them going their separate ways.
“That must've been so hard…”
“Not really, my mom just wanted me to go to a private high school.”
“It's still sad...”
“Well, we wouldn't be meeting here if I had gone to the same high school as my friends.”
“That's true.”
“Anyways, you shouldn't think too much about what other people think,” Tsurugi had said, hoping he could ease Maru's troubles.“You have naturally green hair and cool tattoos.”
Maru had smiled and touched the red marking on his right cheek; such an intricate design where it curls around the dot, thins as it traverses downwards, and then thickens as it comes to a stop by his ear.
“Ah, these aren't tattoos, they appear on our faces when we hit puberty.”
Tsurugi understood Maru wanted to keep them covered because they can be viewed as tattoos and Japan, even in the year 2085 still carry a social stigma and are associated with delinquency and yakuza — which is insane, yakuza numbers have declined significantly, you'd be lucky to find anyone still associated with them.
“Still cool, my mom would flip if I said I wanted a tattoo.”
Maru had chuckled upon hearing Tsurugi say his mother would be livid if he came home with tattoos while still living under her roof.
“All of us Rumelians have unique markings. Me and my brother are twins and our markings are still slightly different.”
Tsurugi had never met a Rumelian the same age as him, so he'd been quite interested in learning more about his new friend, Maru.
“We still have an hour before homeroom starts, want to walk around with me?”
Now, Tsurugi will admit that he's a hypocrite because all those times he'd scoff and tell Yuka how ridiculous it was to fall in love with a boy at first sight…
“Sure!”
The moment Maru smiled genuinely at him, his big green eyes wide with glee, his goofy grin with crooked teeth, the way the sunlight shone on his green hair, he was — and still is — the most beautiful person Tsurugi had ever encountered.
The two of them had spent the rest of the morning getting to know each other and to say it was the best first day of school for Tsurugi was not an exaggeration.
It truly had been the best first day, because if Tsurugi hadn't taken the initiative, he wouldn't have the wonderful future with Maru that he currently has.
💚🎶🖤
Back in the present, Tsurugi is trying to stifle his laughter seeing how abashed Maru has become hearing how awkward he'd presented himself the first time they'd met.
“I can't believe how awkward I was,” Maru mutters into his hands, hiding his flushed cheeks but the red tips of his ears give it away.
Tsurugi merely rubs Maru's back soothingly; no matter how awkward it was, there was not a single thing Tsurugi would change about that memory.
“You were, but it was cute.”
Maru peaks out at Tsurugi from the gaps in his fingers, still embarrassed about being reminded how he'd blurted out he wanted to be friends with Tsurugi because he didn't have any.
“Ugh, I can't believe I said all that…”
All this reminiscing has Tsurugi curious about Maru's side of that memory.
“What was your first impression of me?”
Like flipping a lightswitch, Maru's no longer hiding his face in shame; he's always eager for any opportunity to arise to talk about Tsurugi, completely unabashed.
“I was extremely flustered because you were so handsome.”
What a coincidence that the two of them got to meet that fateful day and were mesmerized by each other's appearance.
“Were, huh?” Tsurugi smirks, playfully pointing out that Maru used past tense when referring to his looks.
Maru leans in closer, his face a mere inches away from Tsurugi's.
“Yes, because you got even more handsome, Tsurugi,” Maru murmurs, coincidentally resting his hand on Tsurugi's thigh.
For someone who has never dated, Maru sure knows how to make himself utterly irresistible and that he can exploit Tsurugi's biggest weakness because he is the one thing Tsurugi cannot abstain from.
Tsurugi places his hand inside the yearbook to mark their page, not wanting to dog-ear the page and risk accidentally damaging the book, and closes it with his other.
Despite the fact most of the people on the page have long since been deceased and these are nothing but moments frozen in time, Tsurugi feels incredibly awkward with the pictures of his grandparents and their classmates staring up at him when he's about to have an intimate moment with Maru.
Tsurugi's free hand meets Maru's warm cheek, his thumb tracing the curve of the red marking, the space between their faces growing smaller until it ceases to exist when his lips meet Maru's.
The Tsurugi from two years ago would've never fathomed a future where he'd grow close to Maru, spends all his free time thinking about him, how he'd willingly gave his fragile heart to Maru for safe guarding, knowing that it's safe and not at risk of being broken again.
It's natural to stay guarded to prevent people from coming into your life and hurting you, but Maru's been a constant in Tsurugi's life for three years — he doesn't have to swear he'll stay forever, Tsurugi knows he will.
Every kiss Tsurugi shares with Maru makes up for all the anguish he's experienced; something about Maru being clumsy and missing his mouth, meeting the corner of his lips, and how he tends to bite Tsurugi's lower lip, thinking it's sexy because he's seen it in movies but it's slightly awkward — Tsurugi is too deeply in love to break Maru's immersion, so he never says anything.
The two of them are far too engrossed with smooching, their brains clouded with thoughts of the other, that flipping through the yearbook completely slips their minds.
Tsurugi's hold on the yearbook was already lax to start with, but the moment Maru starts climbing onto his lap to deepen the kiss, Tsurugi instinctively goes to grab his waist to keep Maru stable and thus the yearbook falls from his lap and onto the ground with a soft thud.
It brings them back to reality as they pull apart to glance down at the yearbook.
“I'm so sorry, Tsurugi!” Maru apologizes for his lack of self control, reaching down to grab the yearbook and brush off any dirt that may have gotten on it.
“You're fine,” Tsurugi says, wiping away the saliva that had dribbled from his mouth with the back of his hand.
Tsurugi knows the yearbook was important to his late grandfather and it holds many priceless moments of his youth, but even if Maru had accidentally damaged it, there wouldn't be any hard feelings from Tsurugi; the love that he has for Maru outweighs a sixty seven year old book.
Maru looks it over thoroughly, searching for any sign of damage, before he lets out a sigh in relief and turns to Tsurugi with a smile.
“All good!”
Although Tsurugi would love to return to their previous activity, they're not exactly alone; his mother is inside working on a painting, and he doesn't want to risk her coming to check up on the cleaning progress only to discover that they're making out on the engawa.
That would definitely be the death of Tsurugi; there is no way he'd be able to look his mother in the eye or even simply converse with her without feeling awkward.
“Let's keep looking through it…”
Tsurugi's feeling incredibly warm at the moment, and it isn't due to the weather; a distraction is necessary to escape his indecent thoughts.
“Who's this? The boy next to your grandpa?” Maru points to a boy with platinum hair, violet eyes, and a black mask covering his lower face that is holding up bunny ears behind grandpa Yuta's head.
It's been a few years since Tsurugi has met any of the people in the yearbook and he's certain all of his grandparents' friends — save for Itadori and Kugisaki — have already passed away from health issues or old age.
It takes a few minutes for Tsurugi to put a name to the face of the boy — the people in the yearbook were teenagers, and by the time Tsurugi and Yuka had been born, they'd already been in their late sixties and didn't retain their teenage looks.
From smooth skin to wrinkles and liver spots, dark hair eventually turns gray, eyes lose their youthfulness and instead tell stories without any words, the ones who once stood tall eventually begin to hunch over with back or knee problems, leaning on a cane for mobility aid.
Searching through hazy memories, Tsurugi tries to recall which friend if his grandparents had violet eyes and then it hits him — he'd just turned eight, a child with no filter, much to his mother's vexation, meeting a person who couldn't speak with his mouth and relied on a text-to-speech app to communicate.
“Uncle Toge,” Tsurugi says, refraining from cringing at his eight year old self asking the man why he couldn't speak.
“He had cancer and lost his voice, so my grandparents took up learning sign language to communicate with him.”
The memories are hazy, but Tsurugi can, vaguely, remember seeing his grandparents use their hands to communicate with Uncle Toge, always lost in their own world.
“That's so cool! Did you pick up on any signs?” Maru makes motions with his hands, attempting to sign.
“Nah, I only met him a few times and he passed away when I was nine.”
If Tsurugi had picked up on any signs as a kid, he's definitely long since forgotten them over the years.
“And who is this lovely girl?” Maru taps on the girl with a pixie cut sitting on a bench with a blonde girl whose hair was styled in pigtails, a teenage Kugisaki, and his grandmother with her arm stretched out, grinning, as she took this photo.
Now, that is someone Tsurugi does know; he doesn't need to rack his brain for he knows who this is.
“Auntie Mai, she's granny's twin sister.”
“Younger or older?”
Of course Maru would want to know that, considering he is a twin, and so Tsurugi will humor him.
“Auntie Mai was younger,” Tsurugi responds, watching in amusement as Maru pumps his fist at guessing Auntie Mai was the younger twin.
The yearbook is on Maru's lap, but with how close they're sitting, Tsurugi doesn't need to crane his neck to see the pictures.
Tsurugi rests his head on Maru's shoulder for comfort, and Maru leans his head against Tsurugi's, leisurely flipping through the pages with a gentle smile.
Being in a relationship with his best friend was a thought Tsurugi would've never fathomed and it still feels unreal.
They no longer leave courtesy space in between them when they're sitting down, and there's no immediate retraction of hands or hasty apologies when their fingers accidentally brush against the others.
Tsurugi doesn't have to cast his gaze away from Maru's face because he doesn't want to be caught staring at him, he can admire him up close and personal to his heart's content.
They've reached the end of the yearbook, but there's a few pictures taped to the back of it — grandpa Yuta and granny Maki were with their friends at the beach in what appears to be winter; they're all wearing heavy coats, their cheeks are red, but they're smiling at the camera and appear to be having a wonderful time.
“Oh! More people!”
Maru came into Tsurugi's life quite late, so all of these people are strangers to him; they might as well be strangers to Tsurugi, too, for the only one he can vividly remember is auntie Kugisaki with her orange hair simply because she would visit often when granny Maki was still alive.
Even after granny Maki had passed away, Kugisaki made sure to visit to check in on grandpa Yuta, making sure he was eating properly and getting out of the house — Tsurugi had been told by his granny that the two of them didn't get along, but after Yuta fell into a depression after losing Maki, Kugisaki had been there for him.
Grandpa Yuta passed away years ago, yet the siblings still get birthday cards and holiday cards from auntie Kugisaki — she still insists on handwriting letters and mailing them, something about them feeling more personal than sending it over the internet.
“Auntie Nobara, Uncle Megumi, Uncle Yuji,” Tsurugi lists them off, pointing each one out to Maru; it's quite a surprise he even still remembers Fushiguro and Itadori's given names.
“Oh, didn't Megumi…” Maru trails off, remembering that day in March when they — him, Tsurugi, Cross — were celebrating Yuka's sixteenth birthday in the living room.
Tsurugi's mother had come into the room with a somber expression, informing them that their relative, Megumi, had passed away.
“Yeah, he was the one who died on Yuka's birthday.”
No matter how often Yuka picks a fight with Tsurugi over the pettiest thing — using all the hot water, eating her snacks, hogging the bathroom — he made a promise to himself that every birthday Yuka has, he will make sure it's amazing and she can look back on the day with a smile.
“I'm sorry…” Maru says softly, rolling the tip of his index finger over Fushiguro's face that is forever frozen in time at seventeen.
“Don't be,” Tsurugi tells Maru, rubbing circles on his back. “He was a distant relative; me and Yuka never saw him much.”
Tsurugi doesn't remember Fushiguro very well; a far off, blurry memory from a family reunion there was a man with spiky, black hair with another that had bright pink hair and two facial scars conversing with his grandfather.
The only thing Tsurugi could remember was they had matching black bands on their ring fingers and the one with pink hair — Itadori — had his hand placed atop Fushiguro's on the table for all to observe.
“Class of 2019…how many years ago was that?” Maru muses aloud, astonished how many years have passed since that era.
“Uh, about…sixty eight,” Tsurugi believes that should be the correct number, since he and Maru were born in 2069 and Yuka in the following year of 2070.
“And we'll be graduating in 2088.”
Tsurugi doesn't want to think about that stuff right now; between thinking about his future or visiting his father in Tokyo, Tsurugi would rather scrub down the engawa with a toothbrush.
“Ugh, don't talk about that, my mom's been dropping hints that I need to get my shit together and pick a university.”
Flopping onto his back, Tsurugi pats the empty space next to him, indicating he wants Maru to join him.
“Yeah, Cross has been nagging at me, too,” Maru sighs, falling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling.
Tsurugi turns over onto his side, his fingers threading through Maru's soft, green locks; being with Maru like this makes him feel like all his problems had evaporated and he can cast his worries to the wind to take them further away.
“Doesn't matter where I end up, just as long as I'm with you.”
Maru's cheeks are dusted pink at the words Tsurugi says to him, but he doesn't look away in shyness, he keeps all three of his eyes on Tsurugi.
“Same here!”
Glancing at the time on his smartwatch, Tsurugi supposes they've let the iPod charge up enough battery for them to unlock it and see what kind of music his grandfather was into as a teenager.
“I think the iPod might have some charge.”
Maru shifts into a sitting position, hoisting himself onto his feet; he collects their dirty napkins, used cups, and the pizza box to take back inside with him.
“You wait here, I'll go check.”
“It's in my room, be sure to grab the headphones too, okay?”
They didn't really need headphones, iPods have a speaker built in that can play music without needing headphones plugged in to the jack, but Tsurugi believes it'll feel more personal and intimate to lay in the grass with Maru and let the music flow through the headphones they're sharing together.
“Got it!”
When Maru returns back to Tsurugi's side, he's holding the red iPod, the black headphones dangling from his neck.
“It's not fully charged, but it should hold out for an hour or two.” Maru tells Tsurugi, extending his hand to help him sit upright.
Maru keeps a gentle grasp on Tsurugi's hand as he slips his feet into his sandals and stands up, allowing himself to be guided towards a small section of grass with wildflowers growing in a patch.
“You're gonna get grass stains on your shirt, Maru.”
Tsurugi's one to talk; he's wearing a white t-shirt that he'll definitely have to toss into the wash later tonight.
“Then you should let me spend the night, so I can wash my clothes.”
Maru could just put on Tsurugi's clothes and return home, but Tsurugi knows this is just Maru's way of hinting he wants to stay with him just a little longer.
That can be arranged; Tsurugi's mother absolutely adores Maru — she's hard on him and Yuka, but with Maru, it's a completely different case; she offers him tea, always asks if he wants to stay for dinner, and doesn't even bat an eye when she sees Maru over their house and greets him warmly.
“Mom's gonna be pissed if she sees us slacking,” Tsurugi chuckles, plugging the headphones into the small opening.
“I'll keep an eye out,” Maru says confidently.
The two of them share a laugh at what Maru means by “keeping an eye out”; Maru can still see out of his third eye, even when his other two are closed.
Maru had been worried he'd freak Tsurugi out because his third eye will sometimes flicker open when he's sleeping or it'll glance around while Maru's other two are looking in a different direction.
It didn't bother Tsurugi in the slightest; he thought it was the coolest thing ever that his boyfriend is from an alien race and had three eyes.
Getting Maru to stop wearing that tacky bandaid and keep his third eye out is one of Tsurugi's greatest accomplishments; Maru's so much more expressive, when all three of his eyes are on display.
“I'm sure you will, Maru.”
Turning it on, Tsurugi sees the lockscreen is a picture grandpa Yuta laughing, granny Maki standing on his left side grinning with her arm resting on his shoulder, uncle Toge on the right, and a man with white hair, bandages covering his eyes, in the background making a peace sign.
“Who is this man?” Maru questions; the white haired man didn't appear in any of the pictures that were featured in the yearbook nor the personal photos Yuta had tapped in.
Tsurugi knows who it is, despite never having met the man because he'd passed away at the age of twenty nine.
“Satoru Gojo, my grandparents' homeroom teacher in their first year of high school.”
Grandpa Yuta used to tell Tsurugi and Yuka stories about how great a person Gojo-sensei was, how he had saved his life, and gave him a place in the world when everyone else had no hope in him.
“What's with the bandages?”
“Grandpa said Gojo-sensei started losing his eyesight halfway through the term and he had multiple surgeries trying to save it,” Tsurugi believes that is what grandpa told them about Gojo-sensei.
“I'm guessing he had to stop teaching, right? We didn't see him in the yearbook.”
The freshmen class of 2017, the one his grandparents were in, had been the last class that Gojo-sensei taught.
“Yep, Gojo-sensei had to stop teaching after that year, because he couldn't see to write on the board or grade papers anymore.”
Granny Maki said that she, grandpa, Toge, and the rest of their peers had pooled their money together to throw Gojo-sensei the best farewell party at the end of the school year — he'd be moving back to Kyoto to stay with family because he could no longer live alone in his apartment.
They never told Tsurugi or Yuka how Gojo-sensei passed away, just that he died at twenty nine; they didn't pry into the details, deeming it a sensitive topic, they simply listened to the stories and imagined a world where they could've met Gojo-sensei — he would've been around 99 years old, if he were still alive now.
There's, surprisingly, no password needed to get into the iPod; grandpa Yuta must've taken it off before he put it away in the box, he wasn't the type to leave something this personal unprotected.
“Let's see…” Tsurugi murmurs, pulling up the music section to see what tunes his grandpa enjoyed.
The music section opens up to a playlist full of cheesy love songs; this must've been something a teenage Yuta had made when was dating Maki.
“Sakayume,” Tsurugi reads the title aloud, putting in one of the earbuds, pressing the play button, and letting the music drift into his ear.
“What does that word mean, Tsurugi?” Maru cocks his head to the side, unable to translate the word into the Simurian tongue.
Rumelians have their own language that is their native tongue; it's common to see signs in Japanese, English, and Simurish when in Tokyo.
Maru's Japanese is decent, he can read, hold conversations and write, yet there will always be words he's unfamiliar with — gone are the days where Maru would look the word up online, he can always ask Tsurugi for help.
“It means Contradictory Dream.”
It doesn't bother Tsurugi whenever Maru needs help with a word; he's been, painstakingly, trying to learn Simurish for the past three years and hasn't made much progress — Maru is a lousy teacher, they're both in agreement on that.
Something about the warm sun, bellies full of pizza, and the sound of music playing through the headphones is enough for the two of them to start drifting off into the realm of dreams.
As they lay in the grass, their shoulders touching, Tsurugi takes this moment to glance at Maru's sleeping face as his eyes are closing.
There's a speck of green that Tsurugi sees before his eyes fully close.
Maru's third eye is not going to keep them out of trouble by looking out for Mifuyu, it's gazing with love directly at Tsurugi.
💚🎶🖤
Mifuyu gave Tsurugi quite the scolding for slacking off on the task she had assigned him, his punishment being he'll have to wake up early tomorrow, instead of sleeping in, to get started on cleaning after breakfast.
Tsurugi was slightly irked that he'd have to set an alarm and clean so early in the morning, but he doesn't have any regrets about choosing to lay in the grass with Maru listening to the playlist his grandfather made for his granny.
It's not all bad; Mifuyu, although she tries not to show it, has a soft spot for Maru, and when asked over dinner if he could spend the night, she agreed, so long as it was fine with his father.
“I'm all clean!” Maru announces, returning to Tsurugi's room with a towel covering his damp hair.
Maru's green hair is dripping water droplets onto the floor and Tsurugi is far too lazy to go find where Yuka keeps her hair dryer, so he beckons Maru over with a flick of his hand.
“Maru, dry your hair properly.”
Tsurugi understands Cross's vexation with getting Maru to take care of himself; he doesn't like to dress in layers for winter, he hates putting sunscreen on, getting him to drink plenty of water on a hot day is a headache.
“Do it for me, please?”
Maru gives Tsurugi the best pleading expression that always works in his favor; he knows Tsurugi can't say no to him when it comes to simple things like this.
“Fine, sit down.”
When Maru settles down on the floor in between Tsurugi's legs, Tsurugi starts to the process of drying Maru's hair with the towel — not too firm, but not too gentle, a perfect in between where he can get the water out while also avoiding Maru complaints about him being too rough.
“By the way,” Tsurugi starts, remembering now that it's nighttime, something he had been meaning to ask Maru when he saw him again. “Why did you text me at four in the morning asking if I'd still love you if you were a worm?”
“I did?”
“You did,” Tsurugi nods, even though Maru's facing away from him and looking at the television.
Tsurugi doesn't question what Maru was doing up at four AM, it's normal for Maru to stay up late into the night because he likes how quiet everything is with the world being asleep, he says it feels tranquil.
“I think I might've been influenced by that movie me and Cross watched about a human earthworm.”
Talk about outdated; there hasn't been a human earthworm movie since his father was a kid in the twenty thirties, and even then, it was a very niche series that stopped around movie number six.
“Try not to watch shitty movies before bed, okay? They'll rot your brain.”
Tsurugi's done drying Maru's hair, running his fingers through green locks to comb out any tangles.
“Okay, but would you still love me if I was a worm, Tsurugi?”
Maru is so lucky he means the absolute world to Tsurugi, for anyone else had asked him such a frivolous question at such an ungodly hour, he wouldn't bother to give a response.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
The confirmation sets Maru's mind at ease, meaning they'll have a peaceful, uneventful, relaxing night.
“Oh, I asked my dad if he wanted those vinyls and he said yes, so I'll take them back home with me tomorrow.”
Speaking of music, while Maru had been showering, Tsurugi had been inspired by his late grandpa's act of love and had gotten to work on a little surprise for Maru.
“What do you think?” Tsurugi smiles, pulling up the holographic screen on his watch for Maru to see.
“Are you making a playlist for me?”
“Yep.”
“So sappy, Tsurugi.”
“You're one to talk, Maru,” Tsurugi smirks, giving one of Maru's cheeks a little pull. “You're already counting down the days until our first anniversary.”
That day won't be until March 8th of next year, yet Maru has already started a countdown, very impatient and wanting to travel to next year so he can finally celebrate it.
Tsurugi manages to keep Maru's impatience under control, reminding him that they still have a lot of fun things to do together as a couple like ditching their siblings and running off together at the upcoming summer festival.
“I'm really happy that I get to have you as my boyfriend, Tsurugi.”
Maru always says Tsurugi is the best thing that has happened to him since moving to Kyoto, and those simple words have stayed with Tsurugi since the day he first heard them
“Same,” Tsurugi concurs. “I'm not good with words, but I do love you, Maru.”
Something must be in the air this summer, it seems the two of them have caught the kissing bug and are unable to cure themselves from it.
“I've never doubted your love for me,” Maru smiles, his hands cupping Tsurugi's face. “You can leave the talking to me, I'm great at that.”
Tsurugi doesn't have a chance to get a word in before Maru is pressing their lips together once again.
“Hey, can I tell you something?” Maru asks softly, hoisting himself off the floor and taking a seat on Tsurugi's bed.
“Anything,” Tsurugi nods, joining Maru on the bed for it seems this is going to be a personal conversation.
“My dad is…well, he's seeing someone.”
Maru sighs dejectedly, pulling his legs up his chest and wrapping his arms around them.
“Oh, like…dating?”
Wrapping an arm around Maru, Tsurugi pulls him closer and rests his head on Maru's, comforting him the best way he can.
“Yeah…it's always just been the three of us, and, like, Dabura isn't a bad person, I just…don't do well with change and didn't feel comfortable going to dinner with them.”
That explains why Maru was in such a rush to come visit Tsurugi that he hadn't bothered to change his clothes.
“Yeah, change can be hard.”
Tsurugi understands just how Maru's feeling; when his granny died, life felt different.
Breakfast didn't feel the same, because she wasn't there doing crosswords at the table, while grandpa sat across from her drinking coffee and watching the weather report for the day.
Change is hard — Tsurugi's grandpa took it especially hard; it wasn't a rare sight to see Yuta sitting on the engawa late in the evening, staring up at the sky with a melancholic expression.
When grandpa got weaker over the last year of his life, Tsurugi, at age eleven, knew that he would have to prepare himself for the inevitable day of losing another person he loved.
Watching Yuka cry and cling to the panda, worn out from years of love, she'd been given by their grandpa at six as she said her final farewell to the casket before it was hauled off to be sent to cremation.
Returning home after the funeral, five chairs that were at the dining table became four.
Change is hard — Tsurugi remembers the day his parents began the process of divorce; his dad's belongings put into white boxes and sat by the front door, how his home office had been purged of anything relating to him, every family photo or pictures of him were taken from viewing and put into the attic.
“I want my dad to be happy, I do, I'm just…not ready for this, I guess.”
Sometimes change can be a good thing; if Maru's family hadn't moved to Kyoto, they wouldn't have met each other.
“I can go with you next time, if you want?” Tsurugi offers; it's the least he can do for Maru.
Dura surely won't mind, since he already sees Tsurugi as part of the family and always tells him to come visit whenever he wants.
Maru retracts his arms from his legs, embracing Tsurugi who reciprocates the action, relieved to see Maru no longer overthinking his father's budding relationship.
“Thank you! You're the best!”
Sweet as this moment is, it's getting late and they have to be up early; neither of them are morning people, so it's going to be rough when that 8 AM alarm goes off.
“Try to relax, we have a busy day tomorrow.”
No more slacking off to lay in the grass and making out on the engawa, they need to get that storage shed properly cleaned out and all the boxes organized.
“I had a good time today, did you?” Maru asks, settling down onto his side to get comfortable for the night.
“It was, I feel like I'm more connected to my grandpa.”
Tsurugi envisions a time in 2018 where his grandfather is sitting at his desk, sorting through different songs on a music app and adding them to a playlist that he will share with the girl he was sweet on.
“Can we watch a movie?” Maru asks, tugging at Tsurugi's sleeve, unable to fall asleep without there being some form of background noise playing.
“Sure, but no human earthworm.”
Perhaps tomorrow when they're sorting through all that junk, they'll find Gojo-sensei's infamous movie collection that grandpa Yuta had come into possession of.
Tsurugi can't wait to see what other treasures they'll uncover tomorrow.