MAGICAL / FANTASY

kyoutani ran a hand through his hair anxiously. he had forgotten to study for an extremely huge exam today which he could not afford to fail. another thing he couldn't afford was missing his caffeine fix. he walked into the coffee shop near his dorm and stepped into line with the other desperately exhausted university students.

when he got up to the counter, the ultra-gorgeous barista, yahaba, smiled at him. "good morning princess," he greeted. princess was a nickname he had given kyoutani for some unknown reason. kyoutani pretended to hate it but as long as it was coming out of yahaba's mouth, he honestly didn't mind. "big test today?" yahaba asked.

kyoutani nodded. somehow, yahaba always knew when he was stressed and could always find the root of it without him saying a word. "worth thirty-five percent of my grade this semester and i haven't even studied," he groaned. "i'm screwed."

yahaba chuckled. "your usual?" kyoutani nodded again, tugging a few crumpled bills from his pocket. yahaba shook his head. "i refuse to take your money!" he said, like he always did when he knew kyoutani was anxious. "it's on the house."

"yahaba, someday you're going to get fired for doing that," kyoutani scolded.

yahaba shrugged. "not if the drink is paid for." he made a show of taking exact change from his apron and putting it in the cash register. kyoutani wondered if he always had the exact change for his regular order in his apron pocket. he sighed in defeat and put a few dollars in the tip jar. "thanks princess." yahaba grinned.

"princess my ass," kyoutani grumbled. yahaba only laughed. kyoutani glared at him. "i hate you," he said. 

yahaba grabbed a cup and started making kyoutani's drink. "i'm offended," he said, pseudo-hurt seeping through his voice. "and to think i thought we were friends!"

kyoutani laughed. subconsciously, he took a deep breath in. smoke. the downside to the undeniably attractive barista that kyoutani had been crushing on since his freshman year of vet-school was that he always smelled like smoke. if anyone asked him, he would say it was because he wanted to be a veterinarian, but kyoutani's almost-daily lectures on the dangers of smoking were mostly because he was worried about yahaba. "you smell like lung disease," he commented.

yahaba rolled his eyes playfully. "kyoutani, you say this every morning."

"not every morning!" he defended.

"whatever you say, princess," yahaba said. "i have never smoked a cigarette in my life."

kyoutani sighed. "that's what you keep telling me."

"and it's the truth!" yahaba insisted, handing kyoutani his drink. he paused. "would i lie to you?"

kyoutani sighed again, more heavily this time. "i guess not," he admitted.

yahaba grinned. "exactly! so take my word for it, i know the dangers of smoking. you emailed me a powerpoint you made about it." kyoutani blushed as he had forgotten about the powerpoint he had made concerning yahaba specifically. "that's why i don't smoke - because i know what will happen if i did. besides, my pretty face would look awful with wrinkles." 

kyoutani laughed. "but of course."

yahaba gasped. "are you calling me pretty kyoutani?" he teased.

"yes, i am," he replied, but it came out sarcastically. in his head, he knew he meant it quite seriously, but he would die if yahaba ever found out. he looked at his phone and saw the time. "shit, i've gotta run. thanks for the coffee yahaba," he said gratefully, turning to jog out the door.

"anytime princess!" yahaba yelled after him. the two boys were then subjected to many awkward stares, but neither one seemed to notice. kyoutani was too busy running to his next class and yahaba was too busy watching him leave.

ϟ

the next monday, kyoutani got his test score back. surprisingly, he had received the best grade in his class. on tuesday, he came into the coffee shop, practically skipping. yahaba, ever the observationalist, noticed he was beyond giddy. he leaned onto the counter, head propped up on one hand. "what's got you in such a good mood, princess?" he asked curiously.

"i passed," kyoutani whispered, smiling. "i got the best grade in the class."

yahaba beamed. "that's awesome!" he said, patting kyoutani with his free hand. "this calls for celebration," he announced, lifting himself off of the counter and sticking a finger in the air triumphantly.

kyoutani's smile dropped. "no, no, there's no need to fuss over m-"

"nonsense!" yahaba declares grandly, interrupting kyoutani. "we'll go to my place and order take-out and have a movie marathon."

kyoutani gulped. "what?"

yahaba didn't skip a beat. "i'll text you the address and a time later today. would you rather have chinese food or pizza?"

tonight was going to be interesting.

ϟ

from : hot coffee boy (yahaba)

43 smither street. it's a little blue house. come over like 6-ish. and wear whatever's comfortable! i'm probs gonna wear a t-shirt and sweatpants lmao :) also! just come right in and yell you're here. the door should be unlocked.

kyoutani glanced at the text again. it was 5:54 and he was standing on yahaba's front steps in sweatpants and a hoodie. the text said just come right in, so kyoutani turned the doorknob. it was open, so he pushed the door open and stepped inside. "hey! it's kyoutani!" he called. he got no response but figured that if yahaba hadn't heard him yell he hadn't heard the door open either.  the house looked a lot smaller on the outside, but it wasn't claustrophobic like kyoutani had thought it would feel. he walked down the hall and turned a corner, looking for yahaba. he stopped short in the doorway. he had found yahaba.

yahaba was leaned over a candle, seemingly trying to light it. he was wearing a loosely fitting tank top and sweatpants that hung dangerously low from his hips. his normally neat brown hair was messy, contrary to his usual neat style. this would've been a circumstantially normal situation if kyoutani hadn't seen flames and a puff of smoke leave yahaba's pink lips. 

"what the hell?"

yahaba looked up at kyoutani in surprise, and then sheepishness. "oh, hey kyoutani.." he scratched the back of his neck nervously. "you're a little early.." he laughed anxiously.

"you said six-ish. it's six-ish. now what the ever-loving fuck was that?" kyoutani exclaimed.

"wh-what are you talking about?" yahaba said, his raising an octave, trying to seem innocent.

"i dunno, unless my eyes deceive me, you just fucking breathed fire!" kyoutani yelled in frustration. "what the hell? normally you tell your friends things like, oh i don't know, that you can breathe fire!"

yahaba snorted. "sorry princess, but i don't think i could just casually bring up the fact that i can breathe fire."

"why would you call me princess at a time like this?" kyoutani spit. "i'm not a fucking princess anyhow! this is serious shit! when were you planning on telling me this?"

yahaba looked guilty. "i wasn't going to.." he said quietly, watching the flame of the candle dance on its wick. 

"why the fuck not?" kyoutani asked. he was enraged; this was absolute bullshit! yahaba didn't say anything for a long time. 

"my parents died in a fire i created. i don't like to talk about it. brings up bad memories," he mumbled, confident facade crumbling. even in the low light, kyoutani could see tears dripping down yahaba's pretty face.

"oh fuck- fuck, shit- damn it i mean- god, i'm sorry yahaba," kyoutani whispered. without warning, he rushed to his friend and hugged him tight. yahaba groaned at the force of the hug but let himself be held. "yahaba," kyoutani sighed into the boy's shoulder. "i'm sorry. when you're ready, could you maybe explain what's going on? maybe not now, or even today, or even ever. just when you're ready."

"i- i can explain. right now. i'm ready," yahaba sniffled. "after all, there's no one else i'd rather tell." he pulled away from kyoutani's grip and lead him to a couch in the back of the room. they sat down. yahaba took a deep breath before starting. "a long time ago, a distant family member of mine fell in love with a woman. the couple was unbelievably happy, really. they did something to piss off some witch or something, who cursed their child to be part dragon. nowadays, we think that'd be cool shit, but back then it was awful. people wanted to slay dragons, so it really was a curse. the dragon gene has been passed through my family since then. it skipped my little sister, but i got the gene. one morning i was trying to heat up the wood stove. i was fourteen at the time and believed i had better control of my powers than i actually did, so instead of grabbing a match, i used my fire-breathing abilities. i lost control of the fire, and it caught. my parents, i tried waking them, and the firemen didn't come fast enough.. i was only fourteen! i killed them!" at this point, yahaba had started to choke on his sobs. his head was burrowed into kyoutani's shoulder and kyoutani was rubbing comforting circles into his back.

"yahaba, it was an accident. you can't take the blame for it, alright? trust me, i know you. you'd never intentionally hurt anyone." kyoutani looked yahaba in the eyes. yahaba sniffled a small "thanks."

suddenly, kyoutani had the worst urge to kiss his friend who always called him princess and give him free drinks and always knew exactly what he was feeling and could breathe fire because he was part dragon. he also suddenly had the feeling his friend who always called him princess and give him free drinks and always knew exactly what he was feeling and could breathe fire because he was part dragon would kiss him back, so he leaned in. yahaba's eyes widened and kyoutani leaned back. "shit, sorry, i just thought-"

"shut up princess," yahaba grinned before connecting his lips to kyoutani's. the kiss was passionate and heated, which kyoutani thought was ironic because of the whole dragon situation, but he dismissed the thought. so that's why he always smells like smoke.. 

kyoutani was kissing his friend. holy shit! he was kissing his friend who he'd had a crush on since freshman year. did yahaba even count as a friend anymore..? he tried not to dwell on it. instead, he dwelled on the feeling of yahaba's lips on his own, even long after they were gone.

after the chinese food had come and they were watching some pointless movie that neither boy was paying much attention to, kyoutani decided to voice something he'd been wondering. "yahaba?"

"hmm?"

"do you have wings too? maybe a tail?"

yahaba hit him with copsticks.