Title: clothes
Rating: T
Fandom: Tokyo Xanadu
Relationship: Takahata Shio/Tokisaka Kou
Wordcount: 778
Short summary: Kou gets some clothes from Shio.
Winter was changing to spring and with that Kou actively sought out opportunities to hang out with Mitsuki and Shio. While neither planned to leave the Tokyo area after graduation, he would no longer be able to seek them out during lunch or after school.
Mitsuki was still swamped with student council and company work, but she was always up for taking a break with tea and cookies. Shio, meanwhile, was spending his time after school at the soba shop, helping with deliveries and mastering cooking on the side. Kou wasn’t allowed to help Shio except as a taste tester. It was one of those times, after a hearty bowl of beef noodles, when Shio said, “I think I mentioned it before, but I have some shirts that don’t fit me anymore but may fit you. Would you be interested in trying them?”
Kou wasn’t really in any need of clothes, but he was curious about those shirts. He also wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to get something from Shio. It would certainly be less awkward than asking Shio directly for something…
They met up the next day, which happened to be Sunday. Shio’s place was just a small room above the soba shop, but it didn’t feel too cramped. It was very functional; Shio didn’t seem to collect many things. Kou sat on Shio’s bed while Shio rummaged through his closet. Kou saw a lot of blue and black; they must be Shio’s preferred colors. Yet Shio surprised Kou by handing him a white polo shirt to try on.
Kou held up the white shirt. It looked crisp and freshly laundered. If the shirt was too small, it probably was tight across Shio’s chest and shoulders. Maybe it’d look like a second skin, showing off all the contours of his chest, or it would ride up a bit, exposing some of those abs… Kou shook his head, breaking that train of thought, and concentrated on changing into the shirt. On Kou it fit just right on the shoulders but hung a bit long. Then again, he usually tucked his shirt, so it wasn’t a problem.
“It looks good on you.”
Kou looked up and saw Shio’s smiling face. “Thanks!” He didn’t expect it to look bad, but it was nice to hear those words from Shio.
“I grew out of that shirt after my first year. I had a bit of a growth spurt. It was a bit of a pity, since I used to wear that shirt a lot.”
Kou was curious now. He hadn’t seen Shio wear white before, and it didn’t seem to feature in his wardrobe.
“That shirt was a gift from Old Man Hokuto. I didn’t want a fancy shirt. I was just fine wearing plain T-shirts but Kazuma said ‘it’d be nice to show off your good looks more.’ So this was like a compromise.”
Well Kazuma hadn’t been wrong, but Kou thought Shio would look good in pretty much any type of shirt… “Do you still have those T-shirts?” he asked out of curiosity.
Shio laughed. “Nah, I gave those to the orphanage. It wouldn’t be a big deal if those got worn out and destroyed, you know.”
That meant Shio thought of this shirt as something special, and he was giving it to Kou. Kou smiled. “Well I’m honored.”
“You’re making a big deal out of nothing,” Shio said, chuckling. “A shirt is meant to be worn. A nicer shirt just needs someone who’ll wear it with care.” Shio turned his attention back to his closet. “Oh, I have a blue one too, if you want.”
“Yes, thanks,” Kou replied. Blue was nice because it would remind him of Shio more than white would. “I’ll take good care of them.”
“I know you will.”
Kou unfortunately was summoned to Kokonoe Shrine to help Grandfather, so he just grabbed his stuff and promised to hang out later. Thus he didn’t even realize that he had left Shio’s place without changing back into his own shirt until he ran into Shiori and she asked about his new look. Actually Kou, in his rush to leave, had left his T-shirt at Shio’s place! Shiori was giving him that knowing look, but it was totally an accident. Kou didn’t read romance novels or manga much; he didn’t know the whole thing about clothes! Kou hoped that Shio didn’t read much into Kou’s misstep. It’d be too embarrassing otherwise.
Okay, Grandfather was also giving him a strange look. Kou couldn’t wait to get whatever errand Grandfather wanted done and escape to his room, so he could bury his face in his pillow…