Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was sudden, swift, and not expected at all, certainly. It was something that sometimes happens, but always avoided. Avoided, yet, here Teru is, in the infirmary, with Akane Aoi: his vice president, and recently confirmed, his best friend. (Only friend, but Shh, it doesn’t matter.)
•••
It started simple enough, as it always did, a rumor. A rumor of a small, non threatening apparition, that sat out in the pond in front of the school. It was rumored that this supernatural would come out of the pond after school, if you stood near it for too long, and slice right through you, dragging you into the water and drowning you forever, until you’re forgotten. For a couple of days, Teru didn’t think much of it, he thought that one of the school wonders would take care of it, banishing it like it never existed. He kept up with the gossip that week, listening in on students conversations, so he could be updated on whether or not it’s still a problem. And, it certainly was. None of the wonders bothered to deal with it, and the rumors never ceased. It truly is frustrating, this means Teru would have to deal with it himself, while usually, he doesn’t get involved with school apparitions. At least, he didn’t have to do it alone, his vice president has some exorcist abilities after all. So he suggested the idea while he was with him during art class.

“Akane.” Teru starts, using his first name. About a month ago, after clearing some things up, they became friends, and he was given permission to use his first name.

“Hm?“ He mumbles, not looking away from his assignment.

“So, do you mind staying after school for me today for something?” He asks politely as he leans forward a bit to watch Akane draw on his paper.

That gets the gingers attention, he finally looks away from his paper. “Huh? But we don’t have student council today, why would we stay after school?”

“Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors.” He leans his cheek against his palm as he speaks. “About a pond apparition, correct?”

Akane thinks for a moment, be for realizing what he’s being asked of. He sighs. “You want me to do your dirty work for you. Why not just leave it for the wonders to take care of?”

“No! I mean- I tried to leave it to the wonders. But, they aren’t handling it for some reason.” Teru complains, pouting. That’s one thing nice about being close with someone, he can feel free to grumble if he wants to. He certainly doesn’t have to keep an image up for Akane, he doesn’t expect anything from him.

He grits his teeth, mumbling something under his breath, before shrugging “Alright I’ll help you, now stop pouting.”

“Yay!” Teru exclaims, smiling brightly.
•••
And that’s how he got here, in the infirmary. Holding a damp towel to a deep wound near his abdomen, that goes to his side. His uniform unbuttoned, with a big hole in it. It’s frustrating, that’s his last clean shirt, and the 5th one the school has had to replace for him this quarter. He sat there while Akane searched the cabinets and drawers. It was after school, so there was no nurse available, just this room that they thought about breaking the door down, before remembering they had a key in the student council room. Teru, however, has no idea what Akane is looking for.

Until he comes around with a needle, thread, and disinfecting wipes. Setting them down beside Teru and taking the damp towel from him.

Teru has the urge to swat his hand away, and keep that towel pressed against his wound, hiding his weakness, and running away. But he can’t do that, not when he’s trying to build Akane’s trust, not when he’s supposed to be vulnerable with him. It sure is hard making friends when all you want to do is hide. He lets him take the rag and he looks down at the needle. “Uh..what’s those for..?”

“Stitches, dumbass.” Akane says, a little harshly, but it’s his way of saying he cares. He was scared, hating to see him get hurt, and he’s expressing that fear with anger, angry that Teru let himself get hurt. Kind of like how a parent disciples their child, when they did something dangerous. He begins to put the thread in the needle.

“And you’re qualified for this, how, exactly?” He mumbles, honestly a little nervous. How can he trust someone with a needle?!

“My mom was a nurse.” He explains, a little too calmly. He looks at the wound, standing in front of Teru, who is sitting on the countertop. Teru would make a joke about it, if it weren’t for the fact that he’s holding a sharp object.

“Righttt… do I need stitches?” Teru asks as he watches the needles every movement.

“Do you want to bleed out?”

“No.”

“Then you need stitches.” He shrugs.

“I’ve done stitches for myself before, so..” Teru excuses. Sure it’s hard and uncomfortable, but it takes a lot of trust to let someone do it for him, and to be honest, he doesn’t have much trust in healthcare let alone anyone else.

Akane shoots him a look, and he knows there’s no way he could get out of this. So he lets the highly unqualified teenager pull a thread through his body.

It’s so vulnerable, and exposed. Inwardly, Teru is feeling awkward about it, shy, even. He eventually rests his head on Akanes shoulder, and he’s surprised he didn’t just push him off. It makes it a little better, and gives him a good excuse to avoid eye contact, let alone Akane seeing his face at all. His eyes begin to close, when had he become so tired? Sure the fight was exhausting, but they always were. So maybe it was the fact that he was using mental energy not to run away, and let himself be vulnerable. Or it was the way Akane was rubbing his back, telling him he’s alright, wait, when did he start doing that?! It’s embarrassing, but, it’s relaxing. Teru fights with himself, before letting his eyes close

•••

Teru groans, he closed his eyes for just a second. Or.. a minute. He was laying on his side on the not so comfortable nurse beds, with the paper sheet on it.

“Oh, you’re up.” Akane smiles as he puts down his phone.

The realization suddenly hits Teru as he bolts, sitting up right, before wincing, and clutching his side. He gets a ‘Take it easy’ from Akane, as he looks around him. He’s in a long sleeve sweater now, when did that happen? It’s comfortable, but why is he wearing it? He looks to the side of him, to see his uniform shirt, with a big hole in it, folded and light pink. It’s not blood red, did Akane wash it out in the sink for him? He turns to him, tilting his head. “Where did you get this sweater?”

“It’s mine.” He explains a little too calmly , it’s kind of awkward.

“Huh?” Teru coughs. Isn’t that too many milestones for one day??! He stitched him up, washed his clothes for him, and put in his sweater! It’s way too fast, just thinking of it makes him a little flustered. He finds himself staring at him, mouth agape, waiting for an explanation.

Akane is not so calm now, his eyes widen before flicking somewhere else in the room. “You were cold..” his voice cracks a little too obviously.

Teru takes a deep breath, okay, he isn’t upset, just a little overwhelmed. He remembers he fell asleep before Akane could actually put any stitches in him. He pulls up the sweater to look at his wound, and it’s clean, surprisingly well done stitches. “Wow, nicely done, Akane.”

“Thanks.” Akane mumbles, eyes lighting up a bit.

Teru puts the sweater back down, patting it, and looking back at him. “So, how long was I asleep?”

“Ohh, about an hour and a half.”

“What?!” Teru says exaggerated. Isn’t that super vulnerable? More than an hour?! He could’ve sworn it wasn’t more than half a hour, really! He really let his guard down to Akane, it’s dangerous, he’s abandoned all caution. It must of been obvious that he was over thinking it.

“Relax, Minimoto. It’s not like I’d murder you in your sleep.” He jokes, but the room is still a little tense.

Teru’s eyes narrow. “You could’ve. You’re a supernatural after all.”

“Part supernatural.” Akane corrects, before poking Teru’s chest, and speaking firmly. “And, your friend.”

That’s right, he has to learn to trust him, he should’ve already. But yet, being asleep, alone, with a supernatural, is all too risky, Teru knows that. He sighs, and pouts a little bit. “I know, I know… I’m trying.”

“That’s okay. Keep trying, that’s what friendship is about.” Akane grins a bit, leaning back and relaxing.

His grin is so cute, and now that Teru is his friend, and is being nice to him, he gets to see it more often. He smiles back, softly, putting his hand on Akane’s shoulder. “I trust you.”

“Good, I’ll make sure to keep it that way.” He adjusts his glasses, knocking Teru’s hand off after a moment, non dramatically.

Chapter Text

**Past**
Somewhere along the line, before they confirmed they were friends, but still getting close enough to be more than just co workers (Or co councilors, whatever you want to call it), Teru showed up at Akane’s house. Uninvited. He stood there at his front door step, at 4:00 in the afternoon of some random Sunday, smiling achingly bright as always.

“Hi, aoi.”

“What the fuck are you doing here.” He rubs his eyes.

Teru tsk’s “how rude, aren’t you excited to see me?”

Akane groans, out of confusion, and annoyance. It’s too random. And his mom calls from the kitchen, asking who’s at the door. “Nobody!” He yells back to her. He stares at Teru for a moment “Why are you here?”

“What, Can’t I study with my vice president?” He holds up a notebook, a seemingly innocent explanation, yet still suspicious.

“Okay.. “ He pauses, seemingly accepting the explanation, but he continues to ask away anyway. “how are you here?”

“Mh? Oh, Akane-San mentioned your address.”

“What?! She ‘Mentioned’ my address??” He looks at Teru in disbelief. Why would she tell his sworn enemy his address? How’d that come up in conversation? They were having a conversation, just how close are they? His thoughts race in the quick moment he stands there. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Teru pauses, he really got him with this one, huh? He didn’t even put any effort into it this time, yet he successfully ragebaited him effortlessly. “What do you mean?”

…”Whatever. Hurry up.” He walks inside, looking behind him with a glare. He only really is letting him inside because he doesn’t want his mom to get too curious.

Teru follows after him, a satisfied smile on his face. He didn’t even ask to come inside, Akane invited him in, how sweet. “Oohh. Nice.” He looks around as he walks in, putting his shoes off to the side. Of course the home isn’t as nice as his, he does come from a wealthy, successful, exorcist family after all.. but it’s nice. It’s clear Akane’s mom likes to decorate, she’s good at it too.

“Shut up.” Akane grumbles, he doesn’t need complements from anyone, especially this prick.

A head pops out of the kitchen, with ginger hair similar to Akane’s, but more dark brown, and less red. Her eyes are green, with a bit of gray, and she’s wearing a grayish pink sweater. Her expression much more soft than her son. “Akane, there you are, dinner is almost ready!” She looks to the boy standing beside him, gasping “Who’s this?”

Akane rolls his eyes “Nobody.” Teru, however, waves and smiles politely “Hi.”

Claire,(That’s what I’m calling Akane’s mom), shakes her head, as she comes forward. “Come on Akane, be nice and introduce us.”

Akane seems to be frozen, god this can’t be happening.

The silence must be too long, because Teru introduces himself. “Hello, Ms.Aoi, I’m Minimoto Teru, nice to meet you. Mam’.”

Akane whips his head around, looking at Teru astonished, why the hell did he go and introduce himself?! Worst of all, His mom is impressed!

Claire practically has stars in her eyes, and Teru shakes her hand. “Wow! Such a gentleman! Do you want to have dinner with us.”

“Huh-?”

“I’d love too! Thank you, Mam.”

“No problem, come eat with us. Are you a friend of Akane’s?”

“Maybe.” Teru shrugs, acting all mysterious. It pisses Akane off, and one day, he might just hit him.

After that day, and especially after they became friends, Teru was over a lot more often, and he even started calling Claire “Mom” too. It just goes to show how close they’ve gotten as friends, and he is very comfortable with Akane’s mom.

**Present**

Teru and Akane were finishing up an art project they’ve been working on for almost a week. Akane thinks personally that he could’ve finished it up a couple of days before the rest of the class, but Teru is a perfectionist , and just won’t let that happen. They were working on a portrait project, and Teru had the great idea to make a copy of the Mona Lisa… dumb bastard. But it’s funny. Akane sets his brush down and thinks of a way to bring something up. His mom and him have an annual trip to the mountains, and this time, Claire begged Akane to let his “charismatic” and “Gentleman” of a friend come along this time.

It didn’t take long for Teru to notice something was up, he set his brush down as well, sensing this was serious. “Akane, Something on your mind?” He asks with a tint of worry on his face.

Akane hates to see Teru worried, it makes him shiver a bit, he puts his hands up “No! Nothings wrong.. it’s just-“

“It’s just?”

Great, the way he said it definitely couldn’t have eased Teru’s worry. “Stop looking at me like that. Listen, do you know that annual trip I go on every year?”

“Mhm.”

“Well, I know this is sudden but.. My mom- and I.. want you to come along this year.” Akane explains a little nervously.

Teru sits up, face lighting up, clearly no longer worried. “Really?”

“Yes really, you dork.” Akane chuckles.

“Ah, well.. What about absences? We’d be gone for 3 days, right?” Teru acts serious, professional in a way, but it’s too obvious he wants to go.

“Pres.. we’re literally in the student council, we can find a way to work around it.”

“Wow, how sneaky~”

Akane glares.

“All right, alright! I’ll get us excused.” Teru chuckles.

“I thought so.” He crosses his arms, but smiles nonetheless.

“I can’t believe you’re taking me on your special trip.” He picks his brush back up, and looks at Akane softly.

“Of course, you’re my friend after all.” He shrugs, but he doesn’t pick his own brush back up. He’s already done his part in the painting, and Teru’s done all that he’s required to also, but he insists on continuing. “You know this is due by the end of class, right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. You don’t have to remind me.”

“Alright. So, should I come over to help you pack? We’re leaving early tomorrow morning, you could come and stay the night at my place once we’re done packing.” He asks.

“Sure, Akane, I’d love that.” He says cheerfully as he looks up from the painting.

‘It looks like he has not a single mark on his beautiful face, or hands.’ Akane thinks, looking down at his own, messy with paint , hands. He’s grown to accept that he thinks Teru is beautiful, every one in the whole school does after all, it’s a fact, so he doesn’t give it a second thought when he finds himself thinking these things. After all, it’s normal to admire your friends.

**After school.**

Akane grabs his bike, following Teru as he hops on, and starts pedaling. “So, have you been to the mountains before?”

“Hm, yeah. I’ve been to a lot of places when I was little, my dad travels for his exorcisms. But it’s been way too long for me to remember what it’s like.” He says, as he bikes in a zigzag, swerving.

“Ah, I see.” He peddles faster to keep up with Teru, also starting to zigzag, and he works his way around him on the side walk, ending up in front of him.

“Hey!” Teru chuckles as he peddles forward. “Are you trying to race me?”

“Maybe!” Akane puts his gear up, and zooms forward.

Teru catches up with him, standing up on his pedals to go faster, as he races Akane to his own home. It’s been awhile since he’s done something like this, and it’s thrilling. He ends up in front of Akane, he can see his house in front of him, he just needs to get in the driveway, he looks back at Akane with a grin “Come on, Akane, can’t catch up?” He says with an earned cockiness, but it’s turns around to bite him in the Ass when he doesn’t notice a crack in the sidewalk walk in front of him, and launch’s forward with a groan, cheek against the pavement. “Ahggg.”

Akane tosses his bike to the side and rushes towards Teru, kneeling beside him, worried. “Teru! Are you alright?”

Teru looks up at Akane, smiling weakly. He loves it during the rare times he uses his first name. Staring at him a moment to long, based off the look on Akane’s face, his eyes widen, then he bursts into laughter. “Hah! I’m okay!”. He catches his breath before sitting up and rubbing his cheek, road rash aching a bit, but he doesn’t care.

Akane sighs in relief, putting a hand on Teru’s shoulder, looking at him sternly “You scared me, don’t do that ever again.” He slowly helps him up.

“Oh, Akane, you’ve had to stitch me up before, and you’re worried about me falling off a bike?” He stretches, before grabbing his bike and walking it towards his garage, Akane behind him.

“I don’t know, you were going fast.” Akane excuses, with a scoff, as they put the bikes in the garage.

They head inside, and upstairs.

Teru sits on the bathroom counter, as Akane washes his road rash. “Hey, Akane. How come you like to clean up my wounds?” He asks. Over time he’s gotten more comfortable with him cleaning him up, compared to how anxious Teru was when he gave him stitches for the first time.

Akane hums. “I don’t know.. is it weird?” He asks as he rings out the washcloth.

“No! It’s not weird. I think it’s sweet, in fact.” He sways his feet as he sits on the counter, blushing softly as he smiles. “I feel like you care about me.”

Akane brings over the damp warm washcloth, holding Teru’s face still with one hand, and carefully dabs it on his cheek with the other. He chuckles “Of course I care about you.”

“Oh.right.” Teru finds his smile widening, and he’s obviously excited about it, he’s eyes somehow seeming like a much brighter blue. It’s blinding.

“How many times do I have to tell you, dim it down a little, Sunshine.” Akane jokes, jabbing his knee against Teru’s.

“Sunshine?” He repeats, looking at Akane in wonder.

Akane finds his face heating up at Teru’s reaction, it came out unexpectedly, but it felt right. He tells himself he shouldn’t be embarrassed, Teru calls him nicknames all the time: “Cherry pop”, “Grumpy cat.”, “Sour patch”, “Fire cracker”, “Poppy”, the list goes on 🫩.(Akane sometimes thinks Teru wanted to confirm their friendship just so he has an excuse to call him whatever he wants). But it’s much too awkward in this moment, so he doesn’t reply, he cleans his cheek like nothing happened.

Teru chuckles.

“What??” Akane snaps as he sets the wash cloth down.

“It’s nothing! Come on, we’ve got stuff to pack after all!”. He hops off the counter, and heads out the bathroom.

Akane follows him, Finding his anger already washing away. This trip will be most likely be exhausting, but he also knows it will definitely be the most fun trip of his life. It’ll be worth it.