This Feeling

The skin that Akio’s lips touched still tingled as Mitsu lay on his bed. He brought his hand up, caressing the spot with a heavy sigh. He, well, ‘Hana’ opened up a lot to him. Perhaps a little too much as the words he spoke surprised even himself. Akio was making Mitsu see himself in a whole new light.

Mitsu’s goal was to get Akio away from Tomo but now he felt himself growing closer to Akio. His feelings between Akio and Tomo are started to sway and meld into one like streams flowing into the sea. Tomo, his childhood friend who has been with him through thick and thin and then on the other side Akio, whose there for ‘Hana’ and helping him come to terms with the things he’s been afraid off. Mitsu flopped his body around, crushing his face into the pillow, let out a muffled scream. What were his best options in this situation? What could he possibly do? “What would you do mom?”

The feeling of his phone vibrating against his bed, brought a much-needed distraction to Mitsu’s internal struggle. Not bothering to look at the I.D, his muscle memory accepted the call and placed the phone to his ear. “Hello,” He groaned to the caller.

“Mitsu!” Tomo’s voice was bouncy and excitable. “Come bowling with us!”

“Bowling?” Mitsu sat up to his knees. Bowling? Bowling with Tomo to be precise. Time away from Akio did seem like its best idea. “Sure, when are you going?”

“Like right now,” Tomo laughed. “So, get your butt down here soon, okay?” With that, Tomo hung up. Mitsu smiled, this might just be what he needed to get his head back on his plan.

Though that’s what he thought. Upon arriving at the bowling alley, Tomo had dragged him to the lane she had booked and there was Akio. Seeing the two already together hurt his heart. But for why? Did it hurt seeing Tomo with Akio or seeing Akio with Tomo? “Hey,” Akio waved as he got up to grab a ball. “You’re just in time. We just started.”

“Hey,” Mitsu waved with a limp hand.

Tomo laughed, nudging Mitsu’s back for him to sit down while she ran to go get drinks. They had arranged the order of Tomo, Akio and then Mitsu. This meant Tomo could have her turn while Mitsu made his way to the alley, Akio could then have his turn as Tomo waits for Mitsu and can then get drinks on his arrival. It was a well thought out plan which didn’t waste their time in the alley.

Though, knowing it was initially just the two of them before his arrival, Mitsu couldn’t help but feel down. It was like he was a third wheel at this gathering and they hadn’t even invited ‘Hana’. Not like both he and ‘Hana’ could show up but that was beside the point.

The clattering of the pins turned Mitsu’s attention to Akio who fist bumped at the strike he managed to get. He turned to Mitsu, using his thumb to gesture behind him. Mitsu sighed, his body limp as he got up, picking up the lightest of the bowling balls and taking his stance. Akio raised a brow, watching Mitsu’s movements closely. “Your form is all wrong,” He commentated, Mitsu groaning as he threw the ball. It jumped up a bit, before slowly tilting to the left and landing in the gutter. Akio laughed, shaking his head and grabbing another ball. He put in in Mitsu’s hands, before positioning himself so he could mimic Mitsu’s stance from behind. Mitsu gasped, feeling Akio’s hands wrap around his arms, fixing his posture. His breath hitched as his heart beat raced. Why did Akio’s touch make him feel like this?

His head felt fuzzy Akio cupping Mitsu’s dominate hand that held the ball. Akio pulled their arm back and with a bit of force, glided the ball, getting Mitsu to let go and throw the ball down the lane. Their stance held for a few seconds, though the seconds felt like minutes even an hour, as Mitsu watched the ball intensely, trying to ignore the feeling of Akio’s heart beat against his back. Not all the pins fell but it was an improvement. “See,” Mitsu turned to look back, Akio smiling at him with a sense of accomplishment. “Isn’t this stance a lot better?”

The stance? Mitsu thought, looking up and down at Akio, realising just how tall Akio truly was. Even as ‘Hana’ they had yet to stand this close. There were other little features Mitsu took notice of. The length of Akio’s eyelashes, the green that mixed into the blue of his eyes and the small, barely noticeable, scar just under his left eye. Akio really is; “Handsome.”

“Hmm,” Akio hummed. “What did you say?”

The embarrassment immediately shown on Mitsu’s face. “Don’t you guys look cosy,” Tomo awed.

The comment was enough to make Mitsu shove Akio off him. He looked to Akio, shaking his head as he hid in the back of the seats in their section. Akio was confusing him. He was meant to distract Akio from Tomo not let Akio distract him. What exactly was this feeling?