He's comfortable with his masculinity :)
One trope Im a big fan of in media is when the loyalty outweighs a conflict of interest. I donโt agree with what youโre doing, but I will follow where you go no matter what. I will do anything for you even if it opposes my own morals
what if act2 but nobody gets better, they get worse instead๐
I like to think that while we're seeing Hirano discover his feelings in real time, Kagi is hopefully seeing the signs, too. You can't just casually tell the person you've been half assed rejecting for months that you love them out of nowhere. Seeing is believing in every sense in this case. Kagi pays so much attention to Hirano, it'd be impossible for him not to notice something changing.
As for Hirano himself, it probably won't be big news to him like Miyano's realization. He's already starting to notice his feelings, so he's likely suspecting of it even when he isn't actively trying to figure himself out. His "aha" moment would more than likely be that moment that he realizes that romantic love can manifest as easily as a comfortable companionship as it can a heart racing tryst. That there's no right way to love someone.
Once he accepts it, sometimes it's overwhelming - after Kagi gets home from a game or practice and radiates happiness, when he pouts because there are green peppers in his dinner, when he falls asleep at his desk after dedicating himself to studying for exams - all of those times he can only think of how much he loves him. Payback for all the times he's ever made Kagi's heart race with his insane antics.
So how does Hirano deal with it?
Touch.
He starts breaking the ten second rule little by little. I mean, he's already starting to. Once Kagi realizes it's been getting progressively longer and says something, Hirano drops the rule altogether. Starts letting Kagi lay his head in his lap when he comes home from practice, petting his hair while he starts to fall asleep on his lap. But it's not enough because now he wants to hold him, too. So during lap time he starts lazily tracing messages on Kagi's face once he falls asleep.
ใ -ใ-ใ-ใ (I really like you)
ใ-ใ (love)
ใ-ใ-ใณ-ใจ (lover)
One day when he's half asleep himself, he starts doing it out of habit without checking to make sure Kagi is asleep first. Kagi notices. So he starts staying awake to see if he does it again. And there they are, the same words. Until one day Hirano draws "I love you" on his forehead and Kagi can't keep the facade up, whispers just loud enough so Hirano can hear but quiet enough so as not to startle him, "I love you too, Hirano-san."
So, the cat's out of the bag, he guesses.
What now?
interlaced
(click link to get as a print)
arrrcane
Ishizu my queen. She deserves so much more love <3
fengqing week day 3: your divine statue ๐
i made a mistake and thought this was a sfw prompt
fu yao has a huge crush on general nan yang btw ๐