The first time Reimei and Akira ever went on a date they had known each other for ten years. Having grown up in the 60s and 70s, the Fukase family’s opinion on homosexuality hadn’t been the greatest, so the first years during their friendship, Akira had kept quiet about his bisexuality. It had changed one afternoon when Reimei had asked him out, and after the initial denial of his feelings, Akira had agreed. At that time, he didn’t yet know about the existence of the supernatural, but he felt like there was something special about Reimei.

It being the early 80s, same sex relationships weren’t something many people even acknowledged as existing, and sadly, Akira’s own parents had hated the thought of people like those they didn’t know their son was. Akira didn’t even really have a name for what he was, he wasn’t gay or straight, just, both. Neither. He hadn’t planned on ever letting anyone know; he had found an outlet in his art for both his temper and his conflicting feelings of attraction, but there was Reimei, asking him on a date, with no ways to misinterpret his intentions.

So here he was, 27 years old, on his first ever date with a man. He’d been on plenty with women, was pretty confident in the process, but now he was unsure. Should he bring flowers? Reimei had said he was going to take him out somewhere, but he had no idea where yet, though he had been told to dress warm. So dressed in a deep purple button down under his thickest black leather jacket that the shorter man had complimented him on before, and with boots and jeans with no tears, he stopped in front of a flower shop on his way to their meeting spot. Reimei liked poetry and though he seemed to like dark stuff, he also had a taste for the finer but simple things in life, so, maybe…

After a minute of consideration, he walked into the store, thinking about the meaning he wanted to tell. He settled on sumire, the violet, finding both the meaning of the name itself and that of hanakotoba to be fitting. His face flushed when the woman behind the counter made small talk about ‘I’m sure your girlfriend will be very happy’ and with pink dusting his cheeks he made his way to the meeting spot.

He spotted Reimei first, who was wearing a simple grey hanten over his green tanzen, now that it was getting colder. Akira was pretty sure he’d never seen Reimei in anything other than traditional clothing, the closest to modern fashion he’d worn being the gakuran they’d both worn to school. The man was sitting on a bench, reading a small book of what was no doubt poetry that he tucked into his sleeve when Akira greeted him. Akira could feel his blush return when he held out the flowers. It was a discreetly sized bouquet, indicating his nervosity in how new the situation was. Reimei’s smile was brilliant, and he tucked the flowers between the collar of the tanzen and nagajuban so they sprouted out between the tartan-like pattern of the tanzen and the simple white of the nagajuban. It was cute.

For a moment Akira didn’t know what to do. Thankfully, Reimei took charge and pinched a hold of his leather jacket with his fingers, nudging him toward a taiyaki stand. He bought them one each to eat while he told him they’d be going to the train station. Akira took the napkin-wrapped taiyaki in one hand, his other twitching with the desire to take Reimei’s in his. Most straight couples didn’t do PDA either though, so in the middle of all these people, him taking another man’s hand was out of the question. But damn, did he want to.

The taiyaki warmed his hand, and he glanced down at Reimei every so often as the shorter man led the way, though he knew exactly where the train station was. When they reached the station, Reimei bought two tickets for a train he had clearly looked up the time for, and with another tug at his sleeve, he was led to the platform. They were soon sat next to each other in the heavy metal train, Reimei’s thigh pressing against Akira’s, a happy flutter at the touch bubbling in the redhead’s chest.

Reimei told him they were going ‘somewhere special to me’ when he asked, which didn’t tell him much at the moment, but when they got off the train and walked to the middle of nowhere he understood. They were in a clearing by a small lake, the sight stunning. It was only a 10-minute walk from where they got off, but he’d never even thought of going here before. Further down the hill, closer to the lake, were ruins of an old shrine that seemed to have stopped being used decades ago.

With a smile, the shorter man snuck his hand into Akira’s, making his heart beat loudly in his ears with the heat going to his cheeks. “Out here, you don’t have to worry, right?”

Akira nodded, feeling his face burn. He felt oddly out of his depth, but Reimei being so relaxed comforted him. He did catch on to the exact words his date had used though. “You’re not worried?”

“I’m too old to worry about things like what most people think of me.”

Akira laughed. “You’re only a little bit older than I am.”

“There’s enough of an age difference for this thing, though. But out here,” he squeezed Akira’s hand and tugged him toward the old shrine, “we’re all alone, so you can do anything you want. You’re free as a wolf.”

The normal saying was free as a bird, but somehow, Reimei had always used to describe him as a wolf in cases like this. It suited him, the book lover said, and Akira wasn’t going to disagree. The grin on Akira’s face was huge when they stepped onto the stone in front of the temple. Grass and the remains of the flowers from earlier in the year had beat the battle against the stone slabs, causing them to crack. When Akira pointed out how poetic that was, Reimei agreed. “It’s part of why I love this place. Nothing can win against nature and time. If you want to, I’ll take you here in spring. It’s stunning when everything starts to bloom. There’s even a few sakura trees near the back, so we could have our very own hanami.”

Taking in the scene of what was surely once a magnificent shrine taken over by the wildness of nature, he wished he’d brought his sketchbook. Reimei headed to the remnants of the purification fountain, Akira following as he was reluctant to let go of the other man’s hand now that he finally held it in his. When they washed their hands he had to let go of course, and Reimei hooked his arm with his while they walked to the crumbling offering hall. It wasn’t safe to enter the hall itself, as the roof was on the verge of collapsing, so they said their prayers in front of it, on top of the steps that had long since lost their protective covering.

With all the formalities done, they sat down on the stone steps of the shrine, looking at the lake that was only a few hundred meters away. Reimei leaned against his side, and after a moment of hesitation, Akira wrapped his arm around his date’s waist. Out of his sleeve, Reimei fished out a bag of konpeito, and out of his bag he pulled out two bottles of beer. Akira barked out a loud laugh. “Are you sure the god of this shrine is fine with us drinking here?”

A smug smile made its way onto Reimei’s face. “They’re okay with it as long as we don’t litter. I asked.” Akira wondered how Reimei would ask such a thing, but shrugged. He’d never been religious, so he wasn’t that bothered by it, and Reimei had always been a bit odd. It’s one of the many things he liked about him.

Reimei opened the bottles and stuffed the caps into his sleeve to keep until they found a trash can by the train station later. They tapped the glass together with a clink and side by side, they drank while watching the lake. As they sat there quietly, Akira heard a snap, and when he turned his head to look, he saw a deer. It was young, probably born this year, and it was soon followed by what might be its mother. The two deer grazed the wild grass right next to them, as if they weren’t even there. Akira looked on in wonder, spellbound by the unafraid animals.

It took maybe half an hour before the deer left again, and Akira turned toward his long time friend. “That’s… fuck, they were so relaxed. Are you sure they’re not used to humans?”

“I’ve never seen any humans here in a long time,” Reimei assured. “I’ve been coming here for years and years. It’s been amazing watching nature take everything over. Makes you think about how humanity isn’t as powerful as they like to make out,don’t you think. Nature wins in the end.”

Akira leaned his cheek on top of Reimei’s head with a smile. “Yeah. It sure is poetic.”

“Oh! Speaking of poetic,” Reimei reached into his bag and pulled out a notepad, along with a graphite pen. “I knew you’d want to draw, so I brought this.” He handed it over, and Akira lit up. “Damn, you thought of everything.” Reimei pulled out the book he’d had earlier and flipped it open, and it turns out it was a notebook as well. “Yep. Just don’t tell anyone where you drew them so people can’t come here and disturb the peace, alright?” He nudged the taller with his shoulder. “It’s a secret place.”

“I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” It was a promise he knew he’d keep. Reimei had trusted him with this spot he had kept to himself, he wouldn’t betray that trust. “So what’s in your notebook?”

Reimei lit up. “I’m writing poetry. I’ve wanted to try it for a while so I thought it was about time.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t started earlier. Can I read it?”

With a nod, the shorter flipped the pages until stopping at one he liked well enough to share. Handing it over, he waited to give Akira time to read it. The poem was a bit macabre but beautifully worded. “You’re good at this. You should definitely keep doing it.”

“Thank you.” Reimei must have sat down on his left side on purpose, Akira noted, as he was right-handed and the newly minted poet was ambidextrous. This way, neither of them had to move or separate to let their creativity flow. They remained seated like that, sketching and writing for a long time, sharing the beer and konpeito between them until they were all out. Noticing that it was getting dark, Akira looked over at Reimei. “Think it’s time to go back?”

“Not yet. I’ve got one more thing to show you. Should only be about 20 minutes until they show up.”

“They?”

A mischievous smile snuck onto Reimei’s face. “You’ll see.” Akira bumped his shoulder with Reimei’s so the man would have fallen over had they not still had their arms around each other. Reimei burst out laughing, pressing his face against Akira’s sleeve. Akira could see the big smile on his friend’s face, making his own grow in size.

The next 20 or so minutes they just sat there, talking about art and poetry. Just about the time Reimei had approximated, the shorter held up a finger to his lips before pointing behind them.

Akira adjusted his grip on the other so he could partially turn to look over his shoulder. The rundown shrine that had been shrouded in darkness was now lit up with dozens of little lights. It took him a moment to realise the lights were fireflies. “I didn’t know there were any still alive this late in the year.”

“Mhm, I’ve seen them here several times, so I wanted to introduce you to each other.”

Another fond laugh escaped Akira’s throat. “You’re making it sound so formal. Are you introducing me to your parents already?” Reimei doubled over laughing, not worried about startling the bugs. “Pretty much, yeah. Mums, dads, this is Fukase Akira, he’s going to be the greatest but weirdest artist in the world.” There was a glint in Reimei’s eyes when he spoke. “Fukase Akira, meet my family.”

Akira’s heart swelled with affection, and he couldn’t stop himself from asking a question as unconventional as the date itself had been. “Can I kiss you?”

In the dim light of the fireflies he saw Reimei’s cheeks darken, and he nodded. “Let’s go down to the lake first.” Akira let slip a joke about not kissing in front of Reimei’s parents, making the other choke on his laughter with a snort. “You’re exactly right.”

They wandered down to the lake hand in hand, beer bottles and creative tools packed into Reimei’s bag. Once they were by the water, Reimei turned to him and reached up to cup Akira’s cheeks in his hands, making Akira’s cheeks darken until they nearly matched his hair in shade.

“Get down here, I can’t reach.” Akira grinned and bent down. The kiss was soft, but the longer it lasted, the more confident Akira got. Reimei tasted of sugar, beer and the forest and Akira pressed him close to his body, until Reimei’s back was pushed against a tree. Reimei had his arms wrapped around Akira’s neck, standing on the tip of his toes. The kiss lasted until they were both out of oxygen, Reimei leaning his chin against Akira’s chest so he could look up at him with the most cat-who-got-the-milk smile he’d ever seen. Akira grinned, feeling his lips tingle. “I think this takes the prize out of all the first dates I've ever been on. Thanks, Reimei.”

Reimei beamed up at him. “I hope you’ll let me take you on a second date too.”

Akira leaned down to give the man another brief but deep kiss. “Definitely.”

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