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They were discussing the design for Akatsuki's new outfits. As usual, Kuro would be the one to actually make them, but all of the members would give their input. But today it wasn't going so well.
Souma had left early, as he had business to take care of with the marine life club. Something about cleaning the fish tanks. So Keito and Kuro were left alone.
"Kiryu! Why are you adding all these cutesy ribbons and laces to only my outfit?"
It was true, the outfits Kuro had laid out were pretty much the standard for Kuro and Souma's outifts, but only Keito's had... A lot of extra embellishments. Green and red ribbons strung all throughout the design, and... Was that a cat? There was definitely a cat-shaped patch on it too.
"Hey, c'mon boss, don't you think it'd be nice to change up our look every now and then?" Kuro grinned as he nudged Keito.
"Incorrigible, Kiryu. I expected better than you!" Keito sighed, before continuing his lecture. "There's nothing wrong with changing up our image. But these outfits don't even match! How can you seriously make something like this?"
Feigning ignorance, Kuro defended himself. "Dunno what ya mean, boss. See here, they all got the same kind of fabric, and the overall design is really similar... But it's fitting for the leader to have a little extra flair, don't ya think?"
Keito wasn't having it. He was angry now, and raised his voice, perhaps a bit too loud.
"A little extra? A LITTLE? Kiryu. I expected better of you. This isn't a little. The laces don't match at all with our usual motif, nor with the rest of the design. And what the heck is this cat here for?"
Kuro just laughed. "Hey, I thought ya liked cats, boss. Didn't you keep pictures of that one cat and those kittens on your phone? I thought it'd suit ya. Figured it'd make ya smile, all cute like."
Keito wanted to scream. He wasn't having this teasing. As the usually straight laced leader of Akatsuki, he wanted to see his unit mates take things seriously. Not dress him up in actual literal lace.
"Kiryu. Remove these extra laces and the cat patch. Don't make me tell you again!"
"Nah, boss. I think it'll suit ya. You'll look real cute."
That word again. Cute. Kuro had said it twice now. And Keito wasn't able to handle it. It's not like he didn't want to be called cute, so much as the fact that when it was Kuro saying it, he wouldn't be able to stay focused. It would just be too much to handle.
"Kiryu, stop calling me cute! It's... Distracting..." Keito averted his gaze. His face was turning red.
Meanwhile, Kuro seemed amused, almost as if this had all been planned. Kuro just sat there, continuing to sew new bits and pieces of cute things onto Keito's outfit.
"Ah, this one'll be adorable on ya, boss." He pulled out a rabbit shaped patch, and started sewing it on next to the cat. "Reminds me of when you an' Sakuma teamed up that leader kid from Ra*bits for that promotion a while back. For that game we were doing promotion for." Kuro put his hands up to his head mimicking floppy bunny ears. "I thought you were adorable, you know."
Keito was at his limit. At this point, it was clear that Kuro wasn't gonna be serious with anything today.
"Kiryu!!! Stop calling me cute and adorable. I won't. I won't be able to handle it!!" His face was bright red, but he desperately continued. "You can't just do this to me, tease me like this! And so unprofessionally. What's gotten into you? This isn't like you, Kiryu. If the person I'm in love with keeps calling me cute like this, I won't be able to handl--"
Keito stopped. He didn't even think that last thought through. His face was red before, but it was a deep, deep crimson now. Maybe redder than Kuro's hair.
Meanwhile, Kuro burst out laughing.
"Kiryu! What's so funny? I... Don't ridicule me like this!! If you find what I said so appalling, just say it to my face."
Kuro caught his breath from the laughter and spoke up. "Boss, c'mon. I was just tryin' to tease ya, because you're so cute. But I didn't think you'd suddenly admit your feelings like that. It seems it went even better than expected."
Kuro got up and walked over toward the closet.
"Kiryu, where are you going, no what do you mean by this??" Keito got up to stop Kuro, and grabbed him by the hand. Kuro turned around.
"Ain't it obvious, boss?" Kuro looked into Keito's eyes. "I think you're cute. I have for a long time. I've been in love with ya for ages, you know."
Keito let go of Kuro's hand instinctively. What did Kuro just say? His heartbeat was racing so fast, he couldn't handle it. Did Kuro just say he was in love with him too? And for AGES?
Keito took a step back. "Kiryu, are you serious...?"
Kuro just grinned. "Yeah, boss. More serious than I've been in my life."
"Since when...?"
"Mm... It's been so long I can hardly even remember... But ya know, it's always made me feel real happy and warm inside, when we'd refer to Akatsuki as a family... With me an' you being like Kanzaki's parents and all. Every time we bring up stuff like that, I'd always think, if only the boss and I were really like that." Kuro's face began to heat up as he continued. "And well, I did say that time, that we'd be together forever."
That was like a year ago! Had Kuro really been in love with him for that long? Absolutely dumbfounded, Keito took a few more steps back. In fact, he almost fell over, but Kuro caught him.
"Whoa don't fall now boss. Well, I guess if you're gonna fall, then fall for me, will ya? Or I guess, you already have." Kuro chuckled at his own dumb joke.
"Kiryu, I. I'm sorry I didn't say anything sooner. I didn't want to be unprofessional, or ruin our friendship, or our bonds as a unit. But now I don't think we can go back to how it was before."
"We don't have to, Boss. Let's take a step toward a new future together. I'm sure Kanzaki will understand the situation too. He's a good kid, and we raised him well. Oh, but hang on a sec."
Kuro helped Keito back to his feet, after nearly falling over, and then rummaged through the closet. "Here ya go, boss." He handed him a folded garment.
Keito took it and unfolded it. It was a matching outfit to the ones Kuro had made for himself and Souma. Without the dumb animal patches and laces and ribbons.
"Kiryu! When did you prepare this? What's going on?" Keito was yelling again. He had long since lost his cool, and just wanted answers.
"Boss, you know I put my heart and soul into makin' our outfits. I'd never actually add such mismatched pieces to the real thing. I just wanted to see how you'd react. And your reaction was really cute."
"Incorrigible." Keito just pouted, his face still completely red.
Before Keito could say anything more, Kuro pulled him in for a tight embrace, and looked him in the eye.
"I really meant it though boss, I've been in love with ya for a long time. And I'm really happy the feeling's mutual."
Upon hearing that, Keito pulled Kuro in for a kiss. They continued for a good minute before breaking free to breathe.
"I'm happy too. I love you Kiryu."