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“You ready for this?”
“I would think so,” Iruka shot Kakashi a knowing smirk, raisin an eyebrow. “I am the one who asked you to teach me, remember?”
Kakashi rolled his eyes, smoothly dismounting his bike and stepping back, gesturing towards the seat. “Alright, smartass,” he murmured, smiling fondly. “Put your helmet back on, and let’s go over the basics.”
Iruka flashed Kakashi a bright grin, pulling his helmet on before sliding smoothly onto the seat of Kakashi’s bike. He ran his fingers over the handlebars, getting a feel for them in his hands. They felt good, still warm from Kakashi’s grip from riding to the empty lot. Iruka could get used to the feeling.
“Damn,” Kakashi murmured, almost too soft for Iruka to hear with the helmet on. “You look good, on that bike. You’re a natural.”
Iruka felt his face flush, preening just a little at the compliment. Knowing how much Kakashi loved his bike, it sent a thrill up Iruka’s spine to hear how adoring he sounded when watching Iruka riding it.
“Alright. So, this button is the ignition,” Kakashi pointed to a square button on the center of the handlebars. “Go ahead and push it.”
Iruka did so, and he felt his heartbeat pick up at the bike hummed to life beneath him. It didn’t feel that different from when he rode behind Kakashi, not really. But it was more exciting here, up front, with his hands at the proverbial wheel.
“The right handlebar is the accelerator,” Kakashi continued, his voice even and frank. “Pull it towards you to accelerate. You can go ahead and try it now, the bike won’t move unless you let go of the clutch,” Kakashi gestured towards the opposite hand. “On the left handlebar.”
“Right.” Iruka nodded, twisting his wrist and pulling the accelerator toward himself. The engine roared to life beneath him, and Iruka felt his eyes widen slightly at the feeling. It felt very sudden, and powerful, and nothing like the smooth accelerations he felt when Kakashi drove.
“Whoa. A little too fast, there,” Kakashi smiled, sliding his hand over Iruka’s. “When you actually go to move, you don’t need to pull back that much. Especially not when you’re in your parking lot phase,” he paused, laughing softly. “You drive like a racer.”
“Yeah, well, my teacher’s a delinquent,” Iruka teased, though he settled down enough so he could direct his full attention to how Kakashi was moving his wrist.
“Now, when you’re ready to move forward, you’re gonna loosen the clutch and pull back on the accelerator at the same time. You wanna do it smooth, so you don’t jerk forward.”
“Right,” Iruka’s voice came out slightly breathy, and he gripped the accelerator a little harder.
“Alright. You’ll notice the accelerator side also has a squeeze trigger,” Kakashi pointed. “This is your front break. You squeeze this hard enough, your front wheel stops. You don’t wanna be using this one when you’re going fast, you will flip over if you stop too suddenly.”
Iruka laughed, giving it an experimental squeeze. “Sounds like you have experience.”
“Not personally, but I’ve watched bikes flip. It’s not pretty.”
Iruka swallowed heavily, nodding shortly. Kakashi must have noticed the tension in his shoulders, because his hand was suddenly smoothing down Iruka’s back.
“Hey, you’ll be fine. Just take it slow, alright?” When Iruka nodded again, Kakashi continued. “Your rear break is by your right foot,” Kakashi pointed, watching as Iruka raised his toe and pressed down on the pedal a few times. “That’s the break you’re gonna want to go for, usually.”
“What’s the pedal on the left?”
“I was just getting to that. That’s how you shift gears. Go ahead and pull it all the way up.” Kakashi watched as Iruka hooked his toe under the pedal, pulling it up. “You’re in neutral. One click down for first, another for second.”
“Got it,” Iruka said, his voice only slightly more confident than he felt. “Accelerator. Gear shift. Clutch. Front break, rear break. Turn with the handlebars.” He rattled the information off, gesturing to each part as he spoke.
“Very good,” Kakashi smiled, patting Iruka’s shoulder twice. “When you’re ready to drive, pull the kickstand up and balance. The bike’s heavier than it feels right now, so be ready for that. As long as you’re driving slow, there’s no shame in dragging your heels a little to try and keep balance, but you gotta be careful of how fast you’re going if you’re gonna do that. Okay?”
“Yeah,” Iruka looked up, over his shoulder at Kakashi. “Are you gonna ride with me?”
“Not for this,” Kakashi shook his head. “It’s harder to balance with someone else on the back, it’ll be easier to try by yourself.”
“Okay,” Iruka let out a heavy sigh, steeling himself. “I’m gonna do it.”
“Go for it.”
Iruka took in a deep breath, pulling the kickstand up and immediately almost losing his balance. Kakashi really wasn’t kidding when he said the bike was heavier than it seemed. Iruka steadied himself upright, his left leg down to keep the bike steady. He could do this. Clutch. Accelerator. No problem.
The first time Iruka tried to move, the bike jerked forward with a loud growl, and Iruka dragged his feet to stop immediately. He dropped the clutch all at once, the bike stalling and sputtering out and threatening to fall sideways before Iruka got his feet steady.
“Whoa, okay,” Kakashi was at his side in an instant, hands on Iruka’s shoulders. “Too much on the accelerator, a little too slow on the clutch. You want to start releasing the clutch right before you accelerate—and you don’t need to use that much.”
“Right. Yeah,” Iruka breathed out, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. Kakashi made this seem so easy. Every time they rode together, it felt like it was second nature to Kakashi. He rode the bike like he was breathing; like it was all that made sense to him. This felt nothing like that. Iruka was nervous, his shoulders tense, his breathing shallow and controlled. Kakashi’s old leather, usually a comforting warmth around his shoulders, was making him sweat uncomfortably down his back. Iruka knew this was just adrenaline, the nerves of learning something dangerous. But he craved the easy freedom of bike rides with Kakashi.
“Hey. You okay?”
Iruka jerked out of his thoughts at the sound of Kakashi’s voice, soft and low beside him. He laughed softly, brushing off his startled reaction with a quick shrug of his shoulders. “Yeah, Kakashi, I…it’s just way harder than you make it look.”
“Hah. Well, you’ve only been trying for a few minutes. Give it time.”
“Right,” Iruka shot Kakashi a small smile, waiting until he took a few steps back before squaring his shoulders to ready himself again. He took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, mentally running though everything Kakashi had told him. He steadied himself again, punching the ignition and gripping the handlebars tightly.
The second try doesn’t go much better than the first. In fact, it goes significantly worse. Iruka managed to travel what must have been several feet, before he started to feel unsteady. His arms shifted instinctively as he tried to regain his balance, and in doing so he accidentally jerked backwards on the accelerator. The resulting burst of speed threw Iruka further off balance, and it felt like all of Kakashi’s instructions were wiped from his brain. He vaguely registered Kakashi’s voice, from behind him, shouting at him to use his brake, but Iruka could barely process the words. He was suddenly going too fast, too soon, and the curb at the edge of the lot was right in front of him.
Iruka made the decision in an instant. He wasn’t going to be able to stop the bike gracefully, that was already out of the question. The question now, was whether he’d like to crash headlong, or sideways; and Iruka had no intention of going over the handlebars.
Iruka threw himself to the left, landing hard on his thigh and feeling his elbow skid across the pavement. He managed to keep his head from hitting asphalt, letting out a sharp grunt of pain as the weight of Kakashi’s bike came down hard onto his left leg.
“Iruka!”
Iruka shoved himself into a seated position, pulling his leg out from under the bike and tugging his helmet off with shaking arms. Kakashi fell to his knees bedside him, eye blown wide with fear as he reached out to grip Iruka by the shoulders.
“I’m okay,” Iruka managed, slightly breathless. “I’m okay, I promise, I’m just—I’m shaking, but I’m not hurt. Is your bike alright? Holy shit—”
“I don’t give a shit about my bike, Iruka,” Kakashi said firmly, his gaze flicking back and forth between Iruka’s eyes, checking for signs of concussion. “I’m only worried about you. Can you stand? Can you move your leg?”
“Kakashi, I’m fine,” Iruka insisted, though he was forced to reevaluate his convictions upon standing. His leg hurt. He couldn’t help the wince, nor the sharp intake of breath, when he attempted to put weight on his left leg.
Kakashi was beside him in an instant, his hands on Iruka’s arm, steadying him. His brow was creased with worry and his hands, while gentle and supportive where they held Iruka, were slightly shaking. “Iruka…”
“Okay,” Iruka admitted, leaning a little more of his weight into Kakashi’s side. “It’s gonna be a hell of a bruise, and if I wasn’t wearing the jacket I don’t think I’d have an elbow. But I’m okay. Really.”
“Let me see.” Kakashi’s voice was quiet, but firm. Iruka allowed him to pull his jacket off his left shoulder, watching as Kakashi’s face twisted into a small frown.
“What? Is it bad?”
“It’s scraped up,” Kakashi let out a breath in relief, releasing Iruka’s arm. “But it’s okay.”
“See, I’m fine,” Iruka offered Kakashi a small smile. “Now, will you please check your bike, so I know if I wrecked it or not?”
“You’re ridiculous,” Kakashi murmured, pressing their lips together in a firm, brief kiss. “I think this took years off my life. I’m not cut out for this.”
Iruka couldn’t help but laugh, pulling Kakashi back in for another chaste kiss before letting him go to inspect his bike. He flexed his arm experimentally, wincing slightly at the dull pain in his elbow. He ran his fingers over his thigh gently, his eyes widening as he could already feel a lump forming where he landed. Shit.
“Well, the good news is, there’s no structural damage to the integrity of the bike,” Kakashi announced, toeing the kickstand down and propping his bike up. “The bad news is it’s scratched to hell. But I don’t really care about cosmetic damage.”
“That’s good,” Iruka breathed out a sigh of relief. “I think the lesson should be done for the day, though.”
“I could not agree with anything more,” Kakashi shook his head gently, picking up Iruka’s helmet and handing it back. “Ready to head home?”
“Yeah,” Iruka agreed, slipping his helmet on and sliding into place behind Kakashi. “I think maybe I should stick to bicycles when I'm not with you.”
Kakashi snorted softly, hitting the ignition as Iruka wound his arms around his waist. “I think I can be okay with that.”
By the time they had driven the short distance back to their home, Iruka’s leg had begun to throb with dull pain, and he almost didn’t want to look at the bruise. Kakashi insisted on cleaning and bandaging Iruka’s elbow, despite Iruka’s protests that he was overreacting. Kakashi had won the argument when he started listing all of his own minor injuries Iruka had bandaged up, and Iruka cut off the list with a blush burning his cheeks.
“You know what, Kakashi,” Iruka murmured, once they were both settled onto the couch, Iruka leaning back against Kakashi’s chest. If Kakashi was maybe a little bit clingier than usual since watching Iruka lay the bike over himself, Iruka wasn’t going to point it out. “Today has helped me answer a question I’d been thinking on for a while.”
“Hm?” Kakashi looked down at him, a little confused. “What question is that?”
“You may not teach Naruto how to ride your motorcycle.”
Kakashi laughed loudly, wrapping his arms snugly around Iruka’s waist and tucking his face into Iruka’s neck. “Whatever you say, dear.”