Notes: I was late with uploading the story today because I was drawing the final part of the accompanying illustration series for this fic. The link is on my profile as always, so I hope you drop by and take a look! :)

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It all started with the ring of the doorbell on Saturday morning.

"Nagisa!" the voice of Mrs. Hazuki called from the second floor. Upstairs in his bedroom, Nagisa squirmed a bit under his blankets, his face buried in one of his pillows. "Get up and answer the door! I'm in the middle of dressing!" The doorbell rang downstairs again.

"Hazuki Nagisa!" The blonde groaned as he reluctantly sat up and threw off his blanket. Padding out of his room in his pajamas, he went down the stairs, wondering who in the world was ringing the doorbell this early (it was 10 am, but hey, it was still a Saturday). Rubbing his eyes, he opened the front door—and his eyes widened instantly.

"Good morning, Nagisa-kun!" Rei said cheerfully. "I'm here to keep you company for the rest of the day." In his arms was another box, the smell of the orange pie in it wafting out from inside. Nagisa's mouth dropped open, and for a while he just stood there speechless, in his pajamas and bedhead, as if he was looking at a unicorn on his front porch.

"Rei-kun!" Mrs. Hazuki's voice called from upstairs. "Good morning, dear! Is it just me or do I smell something wonderful down there?"

"I brought over some pie, Mrs. Hazuki!" Rei called. "It's fresh out of the oven!"

"How sweet of you, dear! Come on in and put it on the kitchen counter—we'll have it for dessert when you join us for lunch!" As this conversation progressed, Nagisa blinked his puzzled burgundy eyes.

"Wait—she knew you were coming?" Rei laughed.

"I secured her permission two days ago. Of course I would never come over without asking first—that would be rather rude of me." His violet eyes twinkled.

"Wait—you're coming over?" Nagisa's eyes widened. "I mean, you're already over?" His voice was full of disbelief, as if he was seeing something from a dream.

"Nagisa-kun, are you not fully awake yet?" Rei teased. "I told you I was going to keep you company for the rest of the da—oomph!" Before he could finish that sentence, the blonde tackled him with a hug, nearly making Rei fall back onto the porch.

"Rei-chan! Oh my gosh, you've come over! You finally came over!" Nagisa's voice squealed in delight. "I can't believe it! After all those times you said no—Rei-chan!"

"Na-Nagisa-kun! Let go—I'm going to drop the pie!" Rei tried to sound dismayed, but he failed—seeing the blonde this excited made him feel warmth in his heart. And his cheeks, he was finding, as Nagisa didn't release him but only clung tighter. Sighing slightly in happiness and a bit of embarrassment, Rei held the pie box in one hand while patting Nagisa on the head with the other.

"We have a lot to do today, Nagisa-kun. I'm prepared to partake in everything that you've ever suggested we do when you invited me to come over." These words seemed to do the trick—releasing Rei, Nagisa's burgundy eyes sparkled in excitement as he looked up at Rei.

"Really?! You're going to do everything?!" Those eyes seemed to glint with mischief for a moment.

"Well, everything except stealing any of your sisters' things," Rei said firmly. "Or anything related to eating contests and vandalism." He had to have some kind of limit, even if this was Nagisa he would be spending time with. Especially because it was Nagisa. He thought he saw his friend pout for a second, but it was gone as soon as it had come. Lighting up, the blonde grabbed Rei's arm enthusiastically.

"But we can do everything else, right?!" His eyes took on that sparkle again, and Rei gulped, hoping that he hadn't missed anything less-than-proper on the list—he was quite confident with his memory, but Nagisa had asked him a million times to do a million different things with him…for the moment, he gave a nod, and Nagisa let out a cheer of delight.

"C'mon in, Rei-chan! The day is only starting!" With that, Nagisa dragged Rei inside the house, slamming the front door carelessly behind him. Rei just barely dropped the pie off in the kitchen before he was pulled upstairs by the very eager, very energetic blonde.

Thankfully, Rei had no genuine cause to worry. They spent the entire day doing what Nagisa wanted to do—playing video games (the blonde won every single time, fueling Rei's competitive nature and frustration with every passing second), watching horror movies when it was still light out (it didn't matter, the sun, because they watched them down in the basement, and Rei spent the majority of his time there trying not to barf while the sound of screaming and Nagisa's laughter filled the dark space), even playing with Nagisa's old toys (his mini cars from his cousin were still around, and much to Rei's embarrassment and Nagisa's amusement, they even played with a few dolls that were in the blonde's room), and going outside for a walk once (he'd had to stop Nagisa from trespassing into other peoples' yards and showing Rei all the 'cool stuff' that he had buried there when he was little).

In-between those activities, they had lunch, and even dinner together, and although they were only joined by Mrs. Hazuki for lunch, they were joined by the entire Hazuki family for dinner. Nagisa's sisters had spent almost the entire meal chatting away at Rei and teasing him mercilessly despite Nagisa's continuous protests of 'Leave Rei-chan alone, he's not your prey!' and while the blonde's puffed out cheeks and pout both grew as his sisters jokingly flirted with the brunette, all Rei could do was sit there and try not to blush too much while giving polite responses, that is, when he could bring himself to respond to some of their questions.

Nagisa's father, who still had a few days left to rest in Japan until his flight to his next overseas workplace, watched him with sympathetic, keen eyes—unlike his wife and his children, he was a quiet man, and Nagisa didn't resemble him much save the fact that both of their eyes crinkled up the same way when they smiled. Those keen eyes had looked at Nagisa, then back at Rei, then back at Nagisa, and after a while, he had mildly suggested that the girls ask questions later and let Rei eat his meal. As if on a magic spell, all three Hazuki sisters had quieted down and returned their attentions to their plates, before starting to chat amongst themselves once more. Although Rei had been grateful, he couldn't help but fidget a little at the fact that those keen eyes had looked from him to Nagisa and back at him once. It was almost as if he had caught onto something…swallowing, Rei had turned his attention away to Nagisa, who for some reason, seemed to be sulking as he moved his dinner around his plate with a fork. He had attempted to make conversation with the blonde, but he had only given short, un-conversational responses in return.

It was only after they returned to Nagisa's room that Rei confronted him about his mood.

"Nagisa-kun," he said, as the blonde lay on his side on his bed with the pout still on his face. "Did I do something wrong?" At this question, Nagisa's eyes snapped back towards Rei, then quickly looked away.

"No," he said, still pouting. "Why would you think that, Rei-chan?"

"Well…because you seemed upset when you were at the table," Rei said cautiously. "You wouldn't give me very long responses when I initiated a conversation—so I assumed that I had done something to cause the downturn in your mood." Looking out the corner of his eye, Nagisa saw that the brunette was looking concerned and apologetic—not liking the face he was seeing, the blonde immediately sat up.

"It's not! It's not your fault, Rei-chan!" he said quickly. "Just—I felt like my sisters were being kinda chatty…they barely let you eat your dinner. I was mad at them, not you." He looked away from Rei, hating his cheeks for getting that familiar tingle of a blush that he hoped the brunette wouldn't notice.

"I—I didn't really mind," Rei replied, a little surprised. "I suppose I was slightly overwhelmed…" Remembering some of their flirtatious questions made Rei's ears turn a bit pink. "But I appreciated it that they were friendly…it was the first time that they met me face to face, after all." He smiled at Nagisa, whose cheeks had puffed up slightly once more. "They reminded me of you—how you first greeted me when we were younger." Hearing those words, Nagisa didn't know whether to feel horrified that the brunette had said he resembled his sisters or to feel elated that Rei was reminiscing about his past self and smiling so fondly at the memory. Unable to decide between the two, the blonde just let out a drawn-out wail and flopped off his bed.

"Geez, Rei-chan! You're so—ugh!" Nagisa latched onto Rei's torso, nuzzling his head against the boy's chest. "Just—don't talk to them so much! Their germs will transfer through the air and infect you!"

"Geh—Nagisa-kun!" Both affronted by Nagisa's first remark and nervous that the blonde was suddenly so close to him—no matter how many times he hugged Nagisa, it always seemed to set off those stomach butterflies and at least a few shades of blushes—Rei searched for a response in his head.

"That is ridiculous—germs do not spread between people merely through holding a conversation! A-And to be accurate, if it's anyone's germs that are spreading to me, it would be yours! Since you—you've constantly been making physical contact with me all day through—through actions like what you're doing right now—" Before he had spent such a long time next to the blonde, Rei had not been aware that Nagisa had such a penchant for physical affection—he had thought that all those tackle hugs and affectionate squeezes of the hand had merely resulted from the nature of their moments together—but now that he was aware, he realized that the concept of personal space probably didn't exist in the blonde's head. Thinking that this was probably what he should expect every time he was with Nagisa from now on, Rei didn't know whether to feel nervous or happy about the fact. He probably felt both. At his remark, Nagisa looked up from rubbing his head against Rei's chest.

"If it's my germs, it's okay!" he replied in a voice that sounded as if he was stating an obvious fact. "Or what…you don't like me hanging off you all the time?" The blonde purposely made his voice sound hurt, making Rei flustered.

"N-no! That's not—it's not that I—" Flushing, Rei looked off to the side, adjusting the glasses on his face. "I was merely making a point about the comparative probability of getting germs from—"

"Rei-chan!" The brunette blinked—Nagisa had disappeared from where he had just stood. Now he was sitting on the floor next to his bedroom window, the one facing out onto the street, and motioning for Rei to sit next to him. "The moon's out—come over here so we can see it together!" He patted the floor next to him with a smile.

"I—how—just when did you move there?!" Rei sighed—giving up his argument, he walked over to the spot next to Nagisa and sat down. His violet eyes traveled up outside the window, towards the full moon sitting up in the clear night sky. It looked particularly beautiful tonight, Rei thought, and he didn't know if it was because it was the middle of August when the moon was at its fullest or because it was part of a moment shared with Nagisa. Just when he was about to slap himself mentally for the mushy thought, the blonde jumped up from beside him, burgundy eyes flashing with an idea.

"Hold on, Rei-chan!" Saying this, the smaller boy darted to the switch in his room and turned off the lights. "This'll set the mood better!" he explained, as Rei jumped slightly in his seat from the light flicking off. The blonde quickly trotted back to his spot and sat down again, next to Rei, turning his eyes back towards the moon.

"It's really pretty, huh? Rei-chan." Rei turned towards the blonde—and what he saw was truly breathtaking. The moonlight that streamed in through the window gently lit Nagisa's face, highlighting the gentle curves of his profile, all the way from the slope of his forehead to the upward turn of his small nose, down the soft curves of his lips and chin, all in a fluid line. It also shed a gentle light on the soft blonde locks of his hair, and gave those pools of burgundy that were his eyes a soft glow as well. A smile graced his face, making the dimple in his cheek stand out in the moonlight. For that moment, Rei could hardly bring himself to tear his eyes away.

"Yes," the brunette whispered. "It's beautiful."

"Mm." Nagisa murmured. After a moment of silence, the blonde spoke again.

"Rei-chan…do you feel lonely?" The question made Rei blink.

"Why would you think that?"

"Well…since Saionji-kun moved to America a few days ago…I thought you might be missing him." Nagisa turned to look at Rei.

"Well…yes. It would be a lie to say that I didn't miss him." Rei thought of the light-haired boy, who must now be adjusting to the time zone in America. "But, well, missing him and feeling lonely are two different things. I have people around me who I can talk to now—so I don't feel alone anymore."

"That does include me…right?" Nagisa asked, a little shyly.

"Of course." Rei smiled. Of course, he thought in his head, as a small smile also formed on the blonde's face.

"Good." Nagisa blinked, as if a thought just occurred to him. "But…it won't be the same, you know? Not having someone who's just as smart as you, who you can talk about your favorite math and physics and other stuff with…I mean, you won't be able to talk with me back-and-forth like that about that stuff, y'know?" Seeing the slight dejection in the blonde's eyes, Rei smiled down at him fondly.

"You do realize that you're smart in your own way, Nagisa-kun?" When he said those words, Nagisa looked up at him with surprised eyes—it made Rei think that he should tell Nagisa that more often. "You know Japanese history and world history like the back of your hand—you're sharp when it comes to reading others' feelings—" Except for the feelings I have towards you, he added silently in his mind. "And you have a way with words that makes people want to listen to you, that makes people like you. If you weren't smart, you wouldn't be able to do any of those things." A blush formed over Nagisa's cheeks as Rei said these words, and a small smile graced his face. "Even if we don't share an interest in math and physics and 'all that stuff'," Rei continued, quoting Nagisa, "you've always listened to me talk about it—like how I've always listened to you. And for me, that is enough. There are also a million other things that we can talk about. Although I'll miss having those conversations with Yuuto-kun, you'll be here next to me…and that is why I won't feel lonely, Nagisa-kun."

"…Good." The reply fell softly from Nagisa's lips. "But if it was me staying, and you went somewhere far away like America, I'd feel hella lonely, you know?"

"…I would, too," Rei confessed. "Perhaps you have a point." But maybe, he thought, it would be a whole different kind of loneliness. Just the thought of something like that happening was unbearable. As he was thinking this, he suddenly felt a warmth nuzzling into his side. He froze slightly when he realized that Nagisa had scooted closer to him and had pressed his side up against Rei's. Leaning in towards the brunette, the blonde rested his head on Rei's shoulder as he looked out the window at the moon.

"Yup." Nagisa smiled contentedly. "This is how things should be." Next to him, Rei's heart raced as he pondered the meaning of the blonde's words.

"N-Nagisa-kun…uhm…" Feeling his face grow hot, Rei tried not to squirm in his position. "Per…perhaps I should be going home now. It's getting quite late—"

"Five more minutes, Rei-chan." Nagisa nuzzled his head on Rei's shoulder. "Just five more minutes…'kay?"

"…Okay." Swallowing a bit nervously, Rei turned his eyes back to the moon, which glowed bright and beautiful in the night sky. As he sat there with Nagisa nestled by his side, Rei thought about it—and he thought that he understood what Nagisa had said. He was no longer standing behind a window fifteen feet away—he was finally next to the blonde, seeing him up close, feeling his warmth like this. Nothing could compare to being so close to this beautiful person.

Indeed, this was how things should be. And from now on, the brunette promised to himself, this was how they would be.

The seven months that preceded April passed more quickly than Rei had ever imagined.

As he continued his lessons at home with his mother, Rei spent his free time doing many things. He went outside to jog or run errands, went to the public library that he had loved frequenting as a child, read books about the things he loved—and frequently spent time with Nagisa. The two of them still talked through their windows often, went over to each others' houses, and even went out sometimes, whether it was for a jog in the neighborhood or to the shopping center downtown to watch movies or just hang out.

Sometimes, Rei would call his brother at college—and although they still needed to work on their conversations, he was satisfied with just hearing his brother's voice. Sometimes, Ryouji texted him snapshots of his life at college—whether they were of his dorm room and roommate, his activities on the wrestling team, his group of friends who all seemed like nice people despite being different types, and other things like the snapshots taken during the college festival in the fall, when Ryouji had won a hot dog eating competition and got a box full of wieners as a reward. He had sent the box home, saying in his call that he would not touch a hot dog again until next year, which had made Rei laugh. In return, Rei texted over some photos of his own—pictures that he took of his mother and father, of new things or events that happened in their home, of the neighborhood outside—and very, very hesitantly, some photos of himself and Nagisa as well. He almost regretted doing that, because as soon as he did, there were always the texts that came flying back, teasing Rei about 'his new girlfriend' or 'his blonde Barbie next door'. But all the same, Rei wanted to let his brother know what was going on in his life, so he sent them anyways.

Rei also spent some of his time researching high schools. After he had first talked it over with his mother, he had hesitated before dialing a contact on his cell phone for the first time. When his father had picked up at work, Rei had taken a deep breath and told him that he wanted to attend Iwatobi High School starting next spring. His father had been silent for a moment, and when he finally spoke up, he told him to do so if that was what he really wanted. And Rei had been happy to tell him that yes, it really was what he wanted. The whole time he was on the phone, his mother had been watching from the kitchen doorway, a proud smile on her face.

When Nagisa had heard the news, his face had lit up like a thousand-watt bulb and he had tackled Rei to the pile of autumn leaves in his yard (that was where Rei had first broken it to Nagisa) with a massive hug. When Naomi-san called at them from her bedroom window to get a room, the brunette had been mortified—but Nagisa hadn't seemed to care at all. As the blonde talked about how they could go to school on the train together, how awesome it would be if they ended up in the same class, and that Rei could also join him for lunch with Haru and Makoto, Rei imagined how the new school year might go in his head, and the thought that Nagisa would be beside him at the time filled him with joy and anticipation.

The winter before the new school year, Rei spent a lot of his time studying for the special entrance exam that he would take for Iwatobi High School (since he would start attending the school in his second year and he would not be transferring from another school, he had to take the entrance exam that had been designed for previously homeschooled students). After his brother returned home for winter break, Rei also asked him if he could help him practice the pole vault—he had planned from the start to join the track team at Iwatobi High School, but as he had little experience with the vault, he had asked Ryouji for his coaching advice. They went to the track field at Taneda High to practice—Ryouji had asked the track team for permission, and his track stardom and winning personality had helped secure it, of course. Although Ryouji had not been able to stop his younger brother's habit of making calculations before doing the jump, Rei was a quick learner—it also helped that his body had already been fit as well. When they sat on the track after their practices to cool off, Ryouji had also proceeded to give Rei some dating advice—waving off Rei's unconvincing protests that he didn't need it (while in reality he listened carefully to the advice while pretending not to listen)—because his brother 'genuinely feared that he would stay a virgin for the rest of his life if he didn't' and because 'it didn't seem like he was getting any from Blondie and maybe that was why he was still such a prude'.

On the midnight passing into December 14th, Rei had been sleeping when he heard a snowball pelting his bedroom window. When he kept hearing the sound, he had groggily gotten out of bed and walked over to the window, opening the shutters to find a gleeful Nagisa waving at him from the Hazukis' yard. After shouting happy birthday to Rei (and Rei trying to shush him because it was nighttime and their neighbors were asleep), Nagisa had proceeded to pelt the brunette with snowballs until the boy jumped out his window—the blonde had thought he was going to get a heart attack, but to his relief, Rei grabbed onto the tree branch and nimbly scaled the trunk down into the yard. They had then proceeded to have a snowball fight, probably waking up some members of their own households in the process. Somewhere in the middle, Rei had managed to tackle Nagisa to the ground, making his back thump onto the snow as the blonde squealed in surprise before he collapsed into giggles. The sight of a rosy-cheeked Nagisa, his soft blonde locks swept up from the movement, his burgundy eyes sparkling and his small pink lips curved up in a smile, had made all the logical, rational thoughts drain from Rei's head. He had leaned down and had been just about to kiss the blonde—when a window slammed open and Naomi-san's voice told them again to 'get a damn room at least a mile away'. About ten times more mortified than he had been that autumn, Rei had immediately jumped off Nagisa, and after apologizing for making him fall, had rushed back into his house, his entire body flushed red and his heart pounding madly against his ribcage.

They had seen each other again the next day, when Nagisa had been invited over for dinner to celebrate Rei's birthday with his family. Before leaving that day, the blonde had handed him a package, wrapped with purple gift wrap and tied with a golden yellow ribbon. He had then hugged Rei tightly—and maybe Rei had been imagining things, but the blonde seemed to linger in their embrace longer than he usually did, before he pulled away and, with a smile, told Rei happy birthday before returning to his own house. When Rei unwrapped the package in his house, he had found a set of dark-purple pajamas with a pattern of lighter purple butterflies on them. The card inside the wrap had read, {They reminded me of my favorite bug and you. I know you'll love them. –Nagisa.} And Rei did love those pajamas—perhaps Nagisa had remembered him once talking about the psychological effect of patterns on clothing. He put the pajamas on before he went to bed that night, and dreamed that he was in a field full of flowers as Nagisa ran through them, Purple Emperors swarming around him as they fluttered their wings in the air.

To no one's surprise, Rei passed the entrance exam for Iwatobi High School. In the spring of the year he would turn sixteen, he joined Class 2-1 as a second year along with Nagisa, who was ecstatic that they were in the same class. He made friends with Yamazaki-kun and Komura-kun, who had also moved up to the same class, and sometimes Hanamura-san also dropped by from the classroom next door with her new friend, Matsuoka-san. After years of only hearing about them, Rei also met Haru, who had frowned at him when he called him 'Haru-chan-san' on their first meeting but eventually had grown to accept Rei, and Makoto, who welcomed Rei warmly and made sure that he felt comfortable amongst them, even if the two of them were a year older. Rei also joined the track team at the beginning of the school semester—and he found himself feeling elated when Nagisa would watch him at practice with shining eyes, and even more so when the blonde told him afterwards that his pole vault had been beautiful.

However, Rei felt frustrated when his track records were not getting anywhere and the track coach had told him to stop trapping himself inside the calculations in his head when he jumped. That was about the time when Nagisa had started to try and create a swim club with Makoto and Haru—after the blonde had heard from Gou that her brother Rin was back from Australia and went to Samezuka Academy and Nagisa had become convinced that the three of them could reunite with Rin at a swim competition—and when he came begging for Rei to please come along with them to joint practice with the swim club at Samezuka Academy, Rei had been unable to ultimately refuse the blonde. When everyone at the joint practice found out that Rei couldn't swim (and some of them found out what Rei's opinion of swimming was), Rei had been mortified. However, his embarrassment had been forgotten when he watched Haru dive off that stepping board. Struck by the beauty of the raven-haired boy's swimming, he had been inspired so much that he had made what he would have previously thought to be a ridiculous jump when he did the pole vault at track practice the next day. He had knocked the bar down with him when he fell, but afterwards he had felt so refreshed that he walked right over to Nagisa and the others and asked them to let him into the swim club.

Since then, Rei had faced many obstacles, learned many important things, discovered a new part of his personality (even he himself had never known that he could be so ridiculous and self-confident at the same time, and he simply blamed a certain blonde for drawing this unexpected side out of him) and made a lot of precious memories—in the process getting to know Gou-san, and later, Rin-san, getting closer to Haruka-senpai and Makoto-senpai, and also, Nagisa. He learned to value spontaneity and other things that came from the heart, like friendship, teamwork, passion, and the spirit of freedom. It was because he had been taught this by the members of the swim club that he was able to give his spot in the relay to Rin at the regional swim competition. After their relay had ended, all four of them had come to Rei and given him a group hug—and even after the other three let go, Nagisa wouldn't release Rei, hanging onto him and sobbing and telling him he was too selfless and he was too good for him and everyone, and many other less-coherent things that made Rei blush as he successfully caught bits and pieces of them with his ears. The others had taken the hint and left them alone, and Rei had told Nagisa that it was fine, he was satisfied with having swum in the relay with them before regionals, that he and Nagisa could still swim in a relay together next year, that the relay they had swum with Rin had been beautiful.

When Nagisa had recollected himself, he and Rei had joined the others for a celebratory photo of the relay. In it, all five of them were standing in front of the pool, most of them smiling at the camera (save Haru, who had his characteristic tsundere pout while looking off to the side, but Nagisa would have said that Haru was smiling on the inside). They had each received a copy of that photo from Gou, and Rei had pinned his copy up on the bulletin board hanging in his bedroom. And every time Rei had noticed how Nagisa was clinging to his swim club jersey in the photo and pulling him into the photo with the others, it made him feel a tingle of happiness—the kind that came from having true teammates and true friends in his life.

Every time he saw it, it made Rei feel glad that he had met Nagisa.

One day, three months after regionals ended and the new school semester had started, Rei came over to Nagisa's house after school to do homework and then hang out together. After about two hours, they had both finished—Rei had finished first while Nagisa sat around whining about the workload and how boring this was before finally getting to work himself. Afterwards, they sat around and just chatted about various things—and before they knew it, the sun had begun to set outside.

An autumn breeze floated in through the open window in Nagisa's bedroom, making the blonde turn his head towards the open shutters. Looking out, he saw the maple tree in his yard, with its red leaves, and beyond that, the window of Rei's bedroom across from his, windows open and drapery fluttering in the wind. A reminiscent smile formed on the blonde's face as he thought back to six years ago in the spring, when he had opened his window and seen Rei for the first time.

"It's been a long time since then, huh? Rei-chan." Seeing Nagisa's eyes on the window outside, Rei also smiled slightly and nodded.

"It has indeed." His violet eyes reflected the light of the setting sun, glowing in a way that captured Nagisa's heart for the millionth time since they had met. The blonde stared at them quietly for a long moment, which made Rei's heart stammer in his chest with nervousness.

"Wha…what is it, Nagisa-kun?" the brunette asked hesitantly, flustered.

"Hold on, Rei-chan—lemme get something." Saying this, Nagisa trotted over to his bookcase and knelt down on the floor. Rummaging through the bottom shelf, he found it—his favorite picture encyclopedia of bugs that he had not looked at for a long time. Taking it out, he turned towards Rei and held it up for him to see.

"Remember this?" When Rei saw the book, he nodded.

"Of course. I remember that you kept showing me your, er, favorite bugs—" He coughed slightly, remembering that they had all gone against his concepts of beauty.

"Yup! And all of a sudden you burst out about them not being beautiful and all that!" Nagisa said cheerfully. "That was the first time I ever heard you talk so much—and so passionately, too!" He grinned, making Rei feel flustered.

"I—that—those bugs were simply not beautiful at all!" the brunette retorted, shifting his red glasses up his nose. "They go against all my concepts of beauty—"

"So what is your concept of beauty, Rei-chan?" Suddenly, Nagisa was right in front of Rei again, holding the book in his hands, a curious look on his face.

"I…that…I…." Rei trailed off, cursing himself silently for the blush that crept into his face and threatened to travel down to his neck. He wished Nagisa would stop staring at him with those big burgundy eyes of his, as he searched his head frantically for an answer other than the one that was standing in front of him at this moment. "Well, f-for example, there is the beauty of a well-structured, precise equation that I find in physics and math—and the beauty of the human form when making a perfectly-executed pole vault in midair—and, since I've spoken of track, I would also have to mention swimming—even now, I find Haruka-senpai's swimming beautiful—"

"Oh." The solitary word fell from Nagisa's lips as he stared down at his feet, his face looking…disappointed? "Yeah—of course you would mention Haru-chan…"

"Nagisa-kun…?" Wondering if he had worded something wrong, Rei panicked. When his eyes fell on the book in Nagisa's hand, he quickly changed the subject.

"Were you, um—were you going to show me something in that book?" The brunette was relieved when Nagisa perked up.

"Yep! I was—come sit with me!" Walking over to the window, the blonde fell to the floor next to it on his bottom and looked expectantly at Rei. "C'mon, Rei-chan!" Sighing a little and smiling in relief, Rei went and joined him on the floor. Legs crossed, Nagisa perched the book on his lap as he flipped through the pages.

"I know I've shown you this before, but you were fifteen feet away back then, so I'll show it to you again!" He stopped when he came to the page he was looking for. Rei recognized the two-page spread instantly—on them were several photos of a certain bluish-purple butterfly, along with captions and paragraphs of explanations. On the top of the first page, the title read 'The Purple Emperor' in large print. Eyes shining, Nagisa pointed to a particular photo on the bottom of the second page.

"Remember this photo? I pointed it out to you back then, too." In the picture, a Purple Emperor was perched on the branch of a tree, its graceful wings reflecting the sunlight as they shone an iridescent purple. Rei nodded, his cheeks flushing slightly as he remembered how the blonde had compared the butterfly to the color of his eyes. "Even now, it's my favorite bug. I think it's one of the most beautiful things in the world." Nagisa's burgundy eyes shone as he turned to face Rei, a soft smile on his lips.

"Their wings are almost as beautiful as the color of your eyes, Rei-chan."

The way the blonde gazed at him made the breath catch right in Rei's throat. Suddenly, all of the emotions that he had been feeling for the blonde for several months surged up from within him. All the memories of him beside Rei, talking, listening, crying, smiling, laughing—all the times that Rei had wanted to hold his hand, hold him in his arms, tell him how he felt—everything gathered in a pinnacle and gave Rei a big push to do another thing that he had always wanted to do.

He leaned over to Nagisa so that their knees were touching, grabbed the blonde gently by the arm, and kissed him right on the lips.

Reveling in the flutters of happiness that shot through his stomach, Rei lingered there for about ten seconds before pulling back and opening his eyes. He saw a very shocked, very frozen, very red Nagisa look back at him with very wide burgundy eyes, his pink lips fallen slightly apart in utter surprise. Only then did Rei realize what he had just done, and the flutters of happiness were instantly replaced with panic as he jumped away from Nagisa, his entire body beginning to flush. What had he just done, he thought as the blonde just sat there, frozen still, the book having fallen from his hands into his lap. He had just kissed his best friend—his male best friend, who would have had no way of seeing that coming—who probably didn't see him as anything more than a really close friend. Oh no—what in God's name have I done—now he's going to hate me—! Rei couldn't even pretend that had been an accident, he had not pulled away fast enough to write it over as one—as he wildly considered the option of jumping out the window and getting away from this hell on earth, he heard a small voice say something earth shattering.

"I love you."

Rei blinked. Thinking that he had heard wrong, he redirected his eyes towards Nagisa, whose face still looked stunned after saying those words. It was as if they had slipped out while he was still in a daze.

"…Nagisa-kun…?" Not daring to hope, Rei kept his eyes fixed on the blonde—and was soon surprised when his burgundy eyes scrunched up, tears starting to form in them.

"I love you, Rei-chan. I really, really love you—so much that it's taking over all of me." The tears started to roll down Nagisa's cheeks as he fought to say these words. "I always thought I was the only one—but just now, you did something like that—" His burgundy eyes bore right into Rei's wide violet ones. "Can…can I think that I was wrong…?" His voice quavered with hope. "Is it okay for me to think that…?" The sight of a teary Nagisa overwhelmed Rei, causing him to choke on his breath before he opened his mouth.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes—" His shoulders trembled as he said the word over and over.

"I love you too, Nagisa-kun—I've loved you ever since the day you first saw me in a wreck—ever since you told me that I could still be myself, and you would be fine with it—maybe ever since the day we first met…!" Watching Nagisa's eyes widen, Rei hurriedly went on. "You don't know how many times I've wanted to—to hold you, take your hand in my hand, to kiss you—how nervous it made me all those times when you'd hang off my shoulders and cling to my arm and lean on my shoulder—how much seeing you smile or hearing you laugh affects me—" He was sure that his face must be on fire right now, but he continued speaking.

"You asked me what my concept of beauty was, and—and maybe, I can't give you a precise answer to that—but all I know is that to me, you're—you're beautiful, inside and out. And every time I realized that, I got the urge to tell you, but—my tongue keeps getting tied up and everything in my head becomes disorganized—and even now, my mind is a mess right now and I don't know what I should do because I've never been in this kind of situation befo—oomph!" Before he knew it, Rei was tackled onto the floor in one of Nagisa's lung-squeezing death grip hugs. The blonde buried his face in Rei's chest as he furiously nuzzled his head against it, causing the fire in Rei's face to spread to his whole body.

"You should've told me, Rei-chan! You could've told me so much earlier—I've been in love with you since last year—no, scratch that! I've been in love with you since the first time I saw you laugh, I'm positive of it! I just didn't notice it earlier—" Rei noticed that the blonde's ears were turning red beneath his blonde locks. "And I was being so obvious about it, too!"

"Wha—" Rei's eyes flew wide open in disbelief. "I beg to differ, Nagisa-kun! How were you being obvious about anything? I mean, you—you always smile and joke and laugh with everyone—you did get rather clingy around me, but that's how you are with everyone, physical affection is your second nature—and the only possible reason I saw for you being around me so much was because we go to the same school now and we're even in the same swim club and we still live next door to each other and we see each other all the time whether you want to or no—" His rant was suddenly cut off by a soft pair of lips that landed over his own.

"…!" When he saw Nagisa's face up close, tilted upwards with his long-lashed eyes closed and his cheeks tinged with a pink blush, Rei froze, his violet eyes widening. They were still wide open with shock when Nagisa eventually pulled back, with a satisfied smile on his face, his face still a warm pink.

"Was that obvious enough?" he asked triumphantly. In response, Rei just silently gaped back at the blonde, his face turning a whole new shade of red, wondering how in the world this boy could still look so beautiful to him even with that victorious smirk on his face.

"That—I—you—" Rei tried to find a reply for that, but his tongue kept getting stuck in his mouth. Now that he thought about it, he had done the same thing to Nagisa, without warning—he could hardly reprimand the blonde for his actions…which he did not even dislike at all. On the contrary…gulping, the brunette let out a sigh, dropping his head, his ears burning.

"—Yes. That was," he said weakly. At his admittance, Nagisa let out a high cheer.

"This does mean that we're dating now, right? Rei-chan?" he chattered excitedly, his burgundy eyes sparkling. Looking up despite his embarrassment, Rei smiled fondly at the blonde.

"Yes…I suppose so. If you want us to be," he added. He couldn't say that he wasn't worried about how the people around them might react if they found out—but he decided, for once, that he would save future worries for the future. Remembering the philosophy of his favorite sportswear brand, he decided to just do it, do what he truly wanted to do.

"Of course I wanna date you, Rei-chan!" Nagisa chirped. "I've been dreaming about it for a whole year now!" Again, he tackled Rei to the floor with a jubilant hug.

"You—you wanted to—for that long?" Rei blinked, suddenly feeling a degree shyer than he had a moment ago.

"Duh! I told you I realized I was in love with you that long ago!" A devious glint suddenly appeared in Nagisa's eyes. "I've wanted to do everything you wanted to, Rei-chan—hug you, kiss you, touch you—" For a moment, Rei thought he saw the blonde's eyes darken a little at the last part, and he nearly choked on his own breath. But as soon as they had darkened, the blonde's burgundy eyes lit up again. "Let's do all that stuff from now on, Rei-chan! Since we're going out!" he said happily. Wondering if this was really the same boy that had been crying a few minutes ago, Rei gulped—he also wondered what exactly Nagisa had meant by 'all that stuff', but he felt a little scared to ask. So instead, he just nodded, reveling in the fact that finally, after all this time, their feelings had reached each other. Despite feeling a little embarrassed in their current position, he circled one arm around Nagisa's waist, while the other went around the blonde's neck, his hand landing on his soft hair. As he ruffled it with his fingers, he felt something thin and long along the scalp. His smile faded when he realized what it was. He sat up, bringing Nagisa up with him as he did.

"This scar…" he spoke quietly. "It's from the time you fell from the maple tree, isn't it?" Noticing the somber tone of Rei's voice, Nagisa looked up from his chest and firmly met Rei's eyes with his own.

"Are you still feeling guilty about it, Rei-chan? I told you, it was my fault for climbing the tree in the first place!" he piped up in a scolding tone. "Besides, I'm fine, Rei-chan! It's nothing but a scar from the past, and it won't kill me! So don't look like that!" He tightened the arms he had around Rei's torso, as if stressing his point.

"I was so scared at the time, Nagisa-kun," Rei confessed in a quiet voice. "I thought…I thought that if anything had ever happened to you…I would never be able to forgive myself. And that was why…why I chose to shut myself inside. I thought that if I were to open that window again, I would only end up hurting you."

"…Rei-chan." The brunette felt Nagisa's hands against his cheeks as the blonde held his face gently. "I'm human—of course I'm going to get hurt sometimes. The same goes for you, too. But you know what gives me hope despite that thought? The fact that we'll be here for each other when that happens." His burgundy eyes stared into Rei's violet ones solemnly, unwavering.

"You were meant to be out here, Rei-chan. You were meant to smile, cry, frown, laugh—you were meant to be beautiful out here, right beside me. And it's because you'll be here to see all my different faces that I'll be able to become beautiful, too." The blonde gave Rei a smile that was so like him, so cheery and bright and reassuring at the same time that it enveloped the brunette in a glowing warmth. "How's that for a concept of beauty?"

"...I think it's perfect," Rei replied, smiling tenderly at the blonde. There was no winning against Nagisa, after all. Giggling, Nagisa reached up and kissed Rei on the forehead. Then, turning around, he plopped himself right down on Rei's lap, nuzzling his head in the crook of Rei's neck and letting out a contented sigh. Nearly melting at the gesture, Rei put an arm around the blonde's stomach and gently placed a hand on the back of Nagisa's shoulder, pushing the blonde slightly forward. Before Nagisa could let out a squeak of protest, Rei tilted his head down and trailed kisses along the back of Nagisa's head, where his scar lay hidden under his golden blonde locks. The feathery sensations made Nagisa giggle quietly as he sat there, enjoying the attention from his best-friend-turned-boyfriend. Eventually, a thought occurred to him and he opened his mouth.

"Hey, Rei-chan. Let's go to Europe someday and see some actual Purple Emperors! We can even make a round trip to America to see Saionji-kun!"

"Nagisa-kun, we would need a lot of money saved up to go to Europe alone. And we haven't even gone on our first date yet—"

"Oh, was that bothering you, Rei-chan? We can go on a date right now if you want!"

"…Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of, say this weekend?"

"Aww, Rei-chan, you were already giving it some thought? That's so sweet!"

"I was—that was a figure of speech, Nagisa-kun! Be-besides, I only suggested a more appropriate time—as for what activities we would partake in during the date, I have yet to think of anything—"

"It's okay, Rei-chan! If it's with you, I don't care what place we go to!"

"Is…is that so? Then how about the public library? I would love to help you prepare for the upcoming math midterms—"

"Eeehhhh~~? But Rei-chaaaan, that's not a date!"

"It would be a study date, Nagisa-kun!"

"Reeiiii-chaaaaannn~~~!"

As laughter sounded from the bedroom in the yellow house, a mailman appeared at the mailbox in front of the lavender house next door. Opening the mailbox, he placed an envelope with red and blue markings around the edges inside, with a stamp on the corner that had the photo of a seal on it. He closed the mailbox and disappeared around the corner of the neighborhood as the sun set lower down the horizon, casting an orange-red glow over the rooftops of the houses.

When Rei checked the mail the next morning and found the letter, a smile formed on his face. Later that week, he replied to the letter, encasing in a red-and-blue edged envelope two folded pages of neatly penned handwriting, a burgundy maple leaf from the tree in the Hazukis' yard, and a photo—in which a blue-haired boy and a blonde-haired boy in school uniforms were standing beneath a maple tree, some red and orange leaves stuck in their hair, smiling brightly at the camera.

A month later, when a certain light-haired boy got the reply to his letter, he sat under the shade of an American maple tree and read the letter. As he looked at the photo of the two teens and the burgundy maple leaf in his hand, a smile grew on his face. Under his other hand, the edge of the letter's second page flapped slightly in the breeze, the closing sentence visible to the reader.

I hope you also learned how beautiful the outside world is.

-Rei.

Another pleasant gust of wind blew through the scene, making the emerald grass dance. In the distance, a white butterfly flapped its wings freely as it flew off into the bright blue sky.

-Fin.

End Notes

Hi! And it is finally over! ;v; It's been so much fun writing and posting this fic *^o^* And before I end this note, I would like to mention a few things!

First of all, most of you probably know that the title of this story contains symbolism. The Window symbolizes the route for Nagisa's and Rei's growing friendship (because, of course, for quite a large chunk of the story that is the only route through which they communicate), and The Butterfly obviously symbolizes Rei and how he wants to be free. But aside from the obvious symbolism, I think some of you might not know what the Maple symbolizes. It is one of the specific things that Rei refers to when he thinks about how beautiful the outside world is, and aside from being a prop for the flow of the plot (Nagisa's fall, Rei's jump out the window to save Nagisa, etc.), the tree actually also symbolizes Nagisa. Some of you may remember that the color of his eyes are compared to the color of the maple tree's leaves in the fall by Rei himself. And just like the tree, Nagisa represents the beauty of the outside world and, of course, is a huge propelling factor for eventually getting Rei to come outside. It's not very subtle or hard to understand symbolism-wise (I'm quite simple-minded in this respect ;v;), but I just wanted to point it out because this is probably the time for me to point out little things like this ;)

Secondly, for those of you who weren't satisfied with the ending, or wanted to see more of Nagisa's and Rei's dating life after this point in the story, fear not! As I mentioned in the notes following Chapter 12, I have posted a follow-up series of drabbles that show their lives both before AND after their confession to each other in this chapter. I actually made a series name for them and the main story, called 'Through the Frame, I See You', and I posted the series of drabbles as Part 2 of this series (The title is 'Behind and Outside the Glass', and if you look under My Stories on my profile, the link is there now). I hope you guys will drop by to read these drabbles as well! :))

Lastly, to all of my readers, thank you so much for seeing this fic to the end! I literally cannot thank you guys enough *^.^* ;v; For the views, reviews, favs, follows, recs, and reblogging (those of you who are on the Reigisa tag on Tumblr, you know who you are. I've always meant to thank you guys after I finished uploading this fic. Thank you so so so much! You don't know how thrilled I was to see posts about my fic on Tumblr q/v/q ) I never imagined that so many people would read my story, and I'm so glad that I decided to share it with you here on FanFiction and AO3. I appreciate you all to pieces, and if you're not tired of my writing yet, I hope you decided to read the accompanying drabbles as well! *^v^*

Again, thank you for seeing this story to the end! I'm back with more Reigisa and friends, so I hope you keep on reading! :3

-point0K