Chapter Text
Pain in the ass though Kaito may be, Shuichi’s no quitter. Shuichi gets up bright and early on Sunday morning-- which in itself is a crime against humanity-- and takes a quick shower, hopping out and changing his clothes and running out the door before his hair has even dried. He quickly crosses the hall and rings Kaito’s buzzer, holding his breath while he waits for an answer. He knows that Kaito tends to go for runs in the morning, and if Kaito’s already out, that’s… fine, he’ll just wait, but it’d be nice if he wasn’t.
The door clicks and opens, and when they make eye contact, Shuichi can see surprise crossing over Kaito’s features.
“Uh, hey, Shuichi, good morning!” he greets. He doesn’t sound displeased to see Shuichi, if anything, quite the contrary, but his eyebrows do raise. “Everything okay? You’re up early, that isn’t really like you!”
“It’s not,” Shuichi agrees, and when Kaito opens his mouth to speak again, Shuichi’s hit with a rush of reckless determination; he takes two steps forward, grabs Kaito’s face, and pulls him down into a kiss.
Kaito’s eyes go even wider when their lips touch, but he doesn’t pull away, sucking in a breath through his nose and bracing the both of them with a hand on the doorframe. After a moment Kaito’s eyes do close, and he leans a bit closer, and Shuichi takes that as permission to deepen the kiss himself, taking a moment to just absorb the tasty of minty toothpaste on Kaito’s tongue, the soft feeling of his lips against Shuichi’s own.
When they pull back, Kaito seems almost dazed, his eyes taking a moment to open again, and when they refocus, Shuichi finds his voice.
“Can I tell you something?”
“Y-Yeah, that’s,” Kaito clears his throat, nodding his head, “that’s fine, uh, go ahead.”
Shuichi suppresses the urge to smile. “What I wanted to tell you yesterday at training and didn’t get the chance to was that… you’re the best friend I’ve ever had, you know that, right?” He reaches for one of Kaito’s hands, turning it over in his own and tracing his fingers over the scars on his knuckles. “Not just that, I feel like… you’re one of the best people I’ve ever known. You’re… important to me, M-- Kaito, you take care of me, you give so much without asking for anything in return, I… I wanted you to know that.”
When he chances a look up at Kaito’s face, he sees that Kaito’s eyes are wide, his cheeks darkening the more Shuichi says. After a moment of quiet, Kaito clears his throat, taking his free hand and cupping his mouth with it. “Shuichi… I didn’t think--”
“I’m not done,” Shuichi says quickly. “You’re not just one of the best people in my life, you’re… brilliant, and intelligent, and inspiring, and you make me want to be a better person, and you make me want to learn about things, and people, and to-- to follow my dreams, and to believe that everyone’s meant to be good. You do it without even trying, without even having to be someone different just by… being you.” He shrugs. “I was talking to Akamatsu-san yesterday and she told me that I should tell you all this, that you should know, and I…” his face warms, “admittedly, kissing you wasn’t originally in my plans, but that’s… also something I’ve wanted to do for a while.”
“Y-Yeah?” Kaito seems a bit more flustered than that than he’d probably admit aloud, and it’s extremely endearing, even if Shuichi is trying not to get distracted right now.
“Yeah,” Shuichi agrees, quietly. “And it’s not just… kissing you, that I want, I mean, I want to… know you, more of you. All your shortcomings, the things about you that you think aren’t heroic. Your hobbies, your fears.” He squeezes Kaito’s hand. “Even if you’re not interested in me that way, that’s alright, I just want to be closer to you, Kaito, I want…” He looks down, and then looks up again. “I want to do for you what you’ve done for me, and… help you. Make you happy.” He clears his throat. “As much as I can.”
Kaito seems… speechless, his hand still covering his mouth, his eyes still a bit wide, and it occurs to Shuichi that he came here first thing in the morning and took Kaito by the face and immediately kissed him straight out the front door. This is hardly the time to be hit with doubt, but Shuichi’s stomach twists with anxiety regardless, and he lets go of Kaito’s hand, running his fingers through his own hair.
“A-Ah, though, I-- I should have asked before kissing you, right? I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking about it, I just really wanted to say what I was thinking, and I didn’t--”
Before Shuichi can finish, Kaito surges forward, and strong arms wrap around his midsection, lifting him off the ground. Shuichi gasps, scrambling for purchase on Kaito’s shoulders, but once he’s found it, he manages to catch his breath, staring into Kaito’s eyes.
They’re teary, Shuichi realises, but beneath them there’s the widest smile Shuichi’s ever seen before on Kaito’s face, all toothy and broad and lopsided, and fireworks set off on Shuichi’s chest.
“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Kaito breathes out, and he leans up so that their lips are just barely touching, faces close enough that they’re swapping breaths, eyelashes tangling together every time they blink. “Believe me.”
And with that, Kaito closes the remaining distance between them, and Shuichi hums into the kiss, wrapping his legs around Kaito’s waist. The kiss is explosive this time, fiery and hot, and Shuichi feels tingles spreading through his body, from his head to his toes, and he can’t help leaning into it, closing his eyes this time and threading his fingers through Kaito’s ungelled hair.
I love you, Shuichi thinks, and when he pulls back, he opens his eyes, slightly breathless, wondering if he should say it.
It’s much too early in the relationship to be swapping I love yous, Shuichi knows, he shouldn’t be hasty, but at the same time…
“I love you,” Shuichi mumbles. “I’ve never felt this way about another person before.”
“Yeah?” Kaito beams at him, his smile even wider, if that’s even possible. “Well, ditto, Shuichi.”
A laugh bubbles out of Shuichi at that, and he lifts his head. “Did you really just respond to I love you with ditto?”
“Maybe I did!” Kaito huffs slightly, giving Shuichi a squeeze, and more giggles fight their way right out of him. “Is there a problem with that?”
“Not even one,” Shuichi admits, shaking his head. He leans down to kiss Kaito again, and Kaito indulges him, humming against his lips, but when Kaito pulls back, his eyes are still open, gaze oddly intense.
After a moment of silence, Kaito whispers, “I love you,” and warmth bursts in Shuichi’s chest,
and maybe this isn’t going to last forever, or even more than a couple months, but right here, right now, Shuichi feels like he could fall from the top of a one hundred story building,
and that’s all that matters, really, isn’t it?