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Valentine’s Day was always something simple for Kaoru Hakaze. He’d search for the newest girl who caught his eye and ask her out on a date, wallow a bit when she says no, and repeat the cycle until he meets someone charmed by him (or desperate enough to go out with Yumenosaki’s playboy) who agrees to go out on a date with him. The times have changed, however, now that the idol has long since abandoned his aimless flirting and dating from woman to woman. Romance was stored in the back of his mind ever since, aside from the casual longings of the comfort dates sometimes provided to him, and he thought that Valentine’s Day would now be just some lingering memory of the past.
That idea proved to be false, however, as the cheesy romantic holiday slowly approached and stores set up their red and pink coated sections of endless chocolate and hearts and the silly stuffed animals with tacky puns such as “I love you ‘beary’ much!” were seen everywhere. Couples slowly started gushing about their significant others while attempting to find the ideal gift for their other half or those with crushes scrambled to put together the perfect confession to their beloved. The whole world was in love in February and no one could turn their eyes from it, not even Kaoru despite his best efforts, as he slowly became one of those poor fools falling in love as well.
Kaoru didn’t want to fall in love, however. Even when he had his short-lived dates and flings with girls, he was never truly in ‘love’ with them. They provided him comfort, yes, but there were never romantic strings attached to them. True love outside of those casual affairs scared Kaoru slightly. The idea of having a partner there for the rest of your life to admire and open up to, to be with you forever through ups and downs, and have such intimacy and unconditional love forever sounded terrifying to him. However, did he truly mind it if it was with the right person? He’s not sure anymore, because lately Kaoru found his mind drifting towards the idea of romance again. Maybe it was because of the constant advertisements of Valentine’s Day specials or the couples walking around showing affection for one another everywhere they went, or maybe it was just because Rei Sakuma was so damn pretty sometimes it made Kaoru’s cheeks flush when the other boy smiled.
Ah, Rei Sakuma.
The raven-haired leader of UNDEAD was an enigma to most, even to Kaoru who had been friends with him for a year or two (time seemed to pass quickly with Rei, so he forgot when they truly first met), yet the same mysterious aura is what pulled most people in. He was charming, even despite his elder persona and old man rambles. There was something that you couldn’t get enough of, something that kept dragging you back to him. He was hard working and caring, standing by Kaoru throughout the years and supporting him. Not to mention the boy was unbelievably attractive... Rei’s long wavy black hair framed his face perfectly, matched with his captivating red eyes and flawless skin. Everything about the boy was captivating and heavenly, and he couldn’t get him out of his mind during random hours of the day.
But that wasn’t love, right? No, it couldn’t be. Kaoru Hakaze never had a serious crush, let alone one on a guy. He was attracted to girls, not guys. He always said so since his younger high school years, and it was true! There was no way he could have a crush on a man, let alone his unit-mate. He threw romance out the window long ago, and although he sometimes missed the sense of comfort dates offered him at times and the intimate touches he’d receive from the random girl he went out with for a week, he was sure he wasn’t in love again. Even when he imagined the dates were with Rei himself or the idea of UNDEAD’s leader cuddling with him in the comfort of the apartment he’d imagine they would buy. No, he wasn’t in love. Not even when he thought of Rei kissing him after a live, praising him for a wonderful performance. Kaoru Hakaze was not in love, especially not in love with a guy.
A hopeless sigh escaped Kaoru’s lips as he shook his head internally at himself. Who was he kidding? It was rather pitiful how denial he was about his feelings and it hit him how much he had been yearning for Rei in the past. However, as he was still coming to terms with his realization of his affection for his leader, he was at a loss of what to do next. It wasn’t every day you wake up and realize you’re gay and in love with your best friend, was it?
Kaoru decided to ignore his emotions toward Rei as the week continued, agreeing with himself that bringing them up with anyone would only cause further issues -- but as time went on and the infamous holiday approached, he found himself only further longing for his friend’s affection. Time spent with Rei only made him crave his warmth even more, especially when all he could see around him recently were pink and red advertisements for date nights and gifts for your significant other every time the two went out. The small touches and hand-holding from Rei were only overwhelming Kaoru more, no matter how much he told himself that the other male did it often as a platonic gesture. He was so enamoured, he finally decided that his feelings could no longer be left unattended.
Kaoru decided to seek out help from as many people as he could the next day. Starting awkwardly at Adonis and Koga, he attempted to explain the situation to the two as best he could, hoping the two would at the least be accepting of his feelings towards their leader.
“So why does you likin’ Vampire Bastard concern us?” Koga asked after Kaoru told his unit-mates about his newfound crush on Rei.
“We support you no matter what, Hakaze-senpai, thank you for entrusting us with this information,” Adonis bowed, speaking sincerely afterward in contrast to what Koga had said next to him instead.
Blinking at his underclassmen’s, Kaoru scratched his head nervously at the responses the other two gave him, “W-Well I just wanted to tell you guys and ask for advice maybe? You know, it’s the first time I’ve liked a guy and all so-”
“The hell you need advice for? Just ask him out or somethin’, ya don’t gotta make it a big deal,” Koga scoffed, crossing his arms as he cut the blonde off.
Adonis nodded in agreement, “If you simply tell Sakuma-senpai how you feel, I’m sure everything will work out.”
Kaoru appreciated the sentiment, but he quickly found out the two wouldn’t have the greatest advice to offer him. Excusing himself from them, he went to find more people to consult on how to approach his feelings.
He briefly thought about messaging Sena or talking to Chiaki, although after more consideration he realized he wasn’t ready to be scolded by the silver-haired member of Knights or willing to talk to Ryuseitai’s red who would likely ramble about the topic of love without answering or come up with an elaborate idea Kaoru didn’t think he was willing to take part of. He considered the other idols from his past class and even his dorm mates, but decided against it as soon as he took into consideration how uncomfortable it would be to speak to people he wasn’t as close to for help with such a topic.
Heaving another sorrowed sigh, Kaoru sat down on a bench outside the gardens while he caught a breath of fresh air. Being in love was hard, he decided, as he held his hand to his chest while it clenched in pain at the thought of his strong feelings towards Rei. He was running out of people to talk to, as well as running out of time before Valentine’s Day. What if someone was already planning to confess to him then and the blonde would be too late? Surely plenty of people were interested in the Rei Sakuma. It came as a shock that he was still single. Fear rushed through Kaoru’s body as he sighed again and clutched his head at the thought. Being in love was such a painful feeling...
“Kaoru-chin?” A voice spoke from afar, growing closer as the boy picked his head up to find the source of who called out to him. “Hey, is something wrong? You looked pretty gloomy just now and it’s not often you’re found alone just hanging around the gardens like this.”
“Oh, hey Nazuna-kun~” he greeted, waving slightly as he forced a small smile onto his face at the sight of the Ra*bits’ member’s concerned eyes. “I’m alright, don’t worry about me. I’ve just come out here to think a bit, you know? Nothin’ to be really concerned about.”
Nazuna lifted a brow at Kaoru’s words before speaking, “Are you sure about that? You seemed troubled. If somethings wrong, you can always talk to me about it. I’m good at giving advice, or just lending an ear if you only have some concerns to voice.” He smiled in return, offering reassurance to the ex-flirt.
Nazuna was right, with his reputation as a big brother figure to most, he was awfully good at being there to support others in any way possible. Kaoru thought about his words carefully, trying to phrase them as best he could, as he decided that the previous leader of Ra*bits would be the most helpful person to turn to.
“Well, you see, I realized earlier this month that I like guys. And, um, the guy I realized I liked was Rei-kun, you know?” Kaoru began, moving over on the bench and tapped the side of it as a gesture for Nazuna to join him. “I’ve been having a real hard time figuring out what to do about it since this is the first time I’ve ever really had a crush, let alone one on another dude since I was so sure and defensive of my sexuality in the past. My unit-mates gave me the advice of just telling him, but I don’t even have an idea about how to go about that. I’ve never been the confession sort of guy, just the one to tell girls they’re gorgeous and that we should go out and hope they said yes.” He cringed at the memories of his past self, wanting to forget the old womanizer he used to be. “I don’t want to just confess like it’s nothing like I’ve done in the past cause... It’s way more than that. I really do like Rei-kun and I want to show that to him.”
Nazuna hummed a bit in return from his spot on the bench he took, thinking about everything Kaoru had told him. “Well, first of all, I’m happy that you realized your feelings~ You’ve grown a lot, Kaoru-chin, and I think taking your first big crush like this seriously is another sign you’ve matured,” the boy spoke, patting the taller boy’s shoulder happily. “Second, with Valentine’s Day coming up, you could always do a simple yet cute confession to him then! I don’t know if you want this to be a completely special and unique confession, but there are plenty of ways to confess on Valentine’s Day. Like, it’s a bit cliche and cheesy, but you could totally make him some chocolates and take him somewhere nice to confess. You don’t need to make your confession an elaborate gesture to make it a special moment, you know? Even something small will be okay so long as you’re heartfelt and sincere about it, which I don’t doubt you will be, considering how passionate you seem about this already. I believe in you, Kaoru-chin!”
Kaoru took what Nazuna said to heart that day, as on Valentine’s Eve he found himself in the kitchen with a simple chocolate recipe pulled up on his phone as he tried to bake. He was good at cooking and loved sweets, so one would’ve assumed it would only be natural that he would be able to pick up making chocolates easily, but with the overwhelming fear that he was going to mess up and that the chocolates had to be absolutely perfect for Rei, Kaoru found himself struggling even with the ‘simple’ recipe on hand next to him. He felt like a failure while his shaky hands fiddled with the vanilla extract too much and accidentally poured slightly more than the amount given to him in the recipe at the thought of Rei’s heavenly features lighting up at the sight of him gifting chocolates. Kaoru groaned, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead while he frowned at the batch of work in progress chocolates in front of him. Was it too late to scrap this all and start again?...
“Oh, Kaoru-chin! I see you took my advice, huh?~” Nazuna exclaimed with a smile, walking into the kitchen before his expression fell at Kaoru’s chocolate making and the frown on the male’s face. “Oh dear, what happened here?... Did you pick too rough of a recipe or something?”
“N-No... The recipe is fine, I’m just struggling to follow it because I keep getting distracted and nervous,” he sighed yet again — something he realized he’s been doing a lot lately (has he really been this stressed?), placing down the items he was holding in his hands. “It’s pathetic of me, I know, but I was genuine about wanting to show how much Rei-kun means to me. I’m super serious about my feelings, even if it seems silly to say since I’ve only realized them recently and all...”
Nazuna sighed to himself as well, shaking his head while his smile slowly formed on his face once again. “I’ll admit, it feels out of character for you to say all those things, but I’m glad you do care so much. Like I said, it shows you’ve really matured and I’m proud of you for that,” the other blonde spoke kindly. “I’ll tell you what. Our unit just got back from rehearsing just a bit ago, so I can go round up the boys and bring them here so we can all work together on this. Mitsuru-kun’s got a little experience with making chocolates and I know Tomo-kun and Hajime-kun would be happy to help too. We’ll help you make this as perfect as you want it to be, ‘kay?”
Kaoru smiled, nodding as he looked down at the shorter boy. “Well, if you’re all willing to help... I’d really appreciate that. Thank you Nazuna-kun~”
And did Ra*bits prove to be a huge help, as Mitsuru ran into the kitchen eagerly, ready to bake the chocolates with the support of Kaoru and Nazuna beside him. Tomoya and Hajime had sat off in the corner, discussing possible confession ideas or the perfect place to take the self-proclaimed vampire out on a date where the moment could be just right for Kaoru to tell him his feelings of admiration. The two told the blonde to leave it to them, as they decided on their plan while the other boys had placed the chocolates in the refrigerator to cool, smiles lighting up on all of their faces.
Kaoru smiled to himself as well, as he glanced at the other smaller boys. He was happy people cared so much about him, willing to help him out in such a difficult time for him. The urge to bring the four into a hug out of gratitude was overwhelming, but decided against it as he began to play Melty♡Kitchen on his phone in honor of the chocolate making with Ra*bits, and the four began dancing and laughing with him happily instead.
With the chocolate made from the day before in hand as well as a bouquet of flowers Hajime had picked out for him, Kaoru stood idly in the garden once again as he watched the members of Ra*bits prepare the confession spot to Rei. A blanket was set onto the ground to rest on and two cups of tea prepared on top of it, once again by Hajime, for the couple-to-be to drink out of due to Tomoya inputting how romantic it would be to share tea in the garden at night.
The unit planned to get Rei to come to the garden for a discussion at around 5 pm, where Kaoru could have his opportunity to spill his proclaimed ‘bothersome’ feelings harbored toward his friend over tea while the sun would begin to set. It was a perfect idea, at least in Kaoru’s opinion, and he couldn’t thank Nazuna and his juniors enough for helping him out during his overwhelming situation. However, as time passed ever so slowly and 5 o’clock approached Kaoru only found himself growing more concerned and anxious for the eventual confession he had planned to do shortly.
Nazuna caught onto his friend’s restlessness as he glanced over to him fiddling with the pink ribbon he wrapped the box of chocolates in. Tapping his arm gently, he looked up to him. “Is something the matter, Kaoru-chin?” he asked, slight worry laced in his tone before teasing the other male. “Don’t tell me you wanna back down now!”
Chuckling nervously, Kaoru shook his head. “N-No, it’s not that at all…” he reassured, glancing down at the boy. “It’s just… I’m getting so anxious all of a sudden about this. What if Rei-kun says no and I ruin our friendship completely? What if he thinks I’m weird for liking him or something? I’m completely outta his league and he’s bound to have plenty of people chasing after him and I can’t compare to them. Hell, I don’t even know if he’s gay and-”
A loud groan escaped Nazuna’s lips which cut Kaoru off as he looked over to the boy whose eyebrows furrowed in frustration. A yelp came out of Kaoru as Nazuna hit him on the back lightly, speaking with slight annoyance in his tone. “You’ve gotta be kidding me, Kaoru-chin!” He exclaimed, placing his hand on his head in exasperation. “Rei-chin’s been pining after ya since before I can even remember you know, and you never once even noticed it! If there’s anybody out there that he likes, it’s you. And don’t go getting insecure about yourself either! You deserve to be happy with Rei-chin, you’re not out of his league or anything. You two are like peas in a pod, and I can’t imagine either of you without the other.”
Kaoru blinked at Nazuna’s speech, at a loss for words himself as he flushed at the idea of Rei liking him back all along. He had truly been so oblivious for that long? Ah, he was so stupid, wasn’t he?
“Nii-chan’s right! It’s a huge shocker you guys aren’t together already, you know?” Mitsuru butted in from the side of the former Ra*bits leader. “Everything’s gonna work out fine! We’re all cheering for you anyways!”
The other two members of Ra*bits nodded as they stood up from the spot they had set up for Kaoru’s confession, Tomoya speaking up when he saw Rei approaching from afar.
“It looks like Sakuma-senpai is coming, so we should go leave you guys alone,” the brunette said, gesturing for his friends to follow. “Good luck, Hakaze-senpai!”
“Mhm! We wish you the best!” Hajime bowed. “Thank you for allowing us to help you.”
While the younger members of the unit left, Nazuna looked up to Kaoru once again, a big smile on his face before waving goodbye to his friend, “You got this, okay? You deserve this, Kaoru-chin. I’m proud of you once again.”
Kaoru nodded, an even larger grin taking over his features after the short talk Ra*bits gave him. Turning around and taking the flowers and chocolate behind his back, he took in a breath of air as the jet-black haired boy greeted him.
“Kaoru-kun~! I was not expecting you to be here, I thought Nito-kun had business with me instead?” Rei exclaimed, his lips upturning at the sight of his unit-mate. “Oh well, no matter. I’m happy to see you, so I’ll just have to seek out Nito-kun another time. In any case, you have quite the set up here. Mind explaining what’s going on? It’s almost like you want to ask this poor old man on a date.~”
Heat rose to his cheeks at Rei’s teasing words, playing with the box of chocolates and flowers behind his back as he attempted to regain his composure. “Cut it out with the old man talk today, Rei-kun. You completely ruin the mood with that,” he teased back, faking an annoyed groan.
“Okay, okay, I’ll cease on my elderly wisdom just for today if it’s what you request,” the idol spoke before stepping forward, trying to get a look at what Kaoru was holding behind him. “That doesn’t answer my question on what’s going on here though. You’re even hiding something from me! I thought we could trust each other, Kaoru-kun!”
Kaoru’s chest swelled at Rei’s sudden proximity and his legs instinctively took a step back, which made his leader frown at the sigh and caused him to blush further. Focus, Kaoru. Just tell him! He told himself, taking a deep breath as he slowly drew the items hidden behind him and held them out to Rei.
“W-Well you see, the whole date thing wasn’t so far from the truth…” Kaoru muttered in embarrassment, looking everywhere but Rei’s beautiful red eyes which seemed to gleam in excitement and admiration at every one of the blonde’s words, “I like you, Rei-kun. I realized I always have, despite being so in denial about it and I wanted to make this confession special to show how serious I am, cause I’m extremely serious about this. I-I love you, a lot.”
It was Rei’s turn to get flustered, as his previous frown turned into a beaming smile, shades of pink dusting his pale skin. “Oh how I’ve been waiting for Kaoru-kun to say that,” he admitted, taking the chocolates and flowers into his own hands. “I love you too, and I’m so glad you were able to tell me. I always thought I’d never have a chance with you after all these years…”
“W-What?!” Kaoru interrupted in shock, playing with his hair nervously as he listened to Rei speak. “I thought I wouldn’t have any chance with you! ” he exclaimed. “In fact, Nazuna-kun had to talk to me about it before I backed down before you even came. You had always just been so perfect in every way, I just thought I had no hope of you returning my feelings.”
The leader of UNDEAD laughed softly, gently setting down the items Kaoru gifted him onto the blanket before taking the boy into a hug. “Well, despite both our insecurities and flaws, we managed to get out our feelings to each other and I think that’s what matters. I’m immensely happy about that, at least,” he spoke quietly, resting his head into Kaoru’s neck. “You make me happy, Kaoru-kun.”
“You make me happy too, Rei-kun. I love you.”
No more words were spoken as Kaoru pulled away from Rei momentarily, locking his beautiful scarlet eyes with his own and slowly diving in for the kiss they had both been yearning for. Finally, the longings for Rei’s soft lips against his were no longer just daydreams, yet a reality, as the sun began to set behind them and they held each other in their arms lovingly.
The moment was perfect, as Rei was the first one to break the mesmerizing kiss and the two stared lovingly at each other in a peaceful silence, holding each other in their arms with genuine smiles gracing their lips joyfully.
“Let’s sit down and enjoy the tea that’s been prepared for us, shall we? We can also share the chocolates you made. I can tell you put a lot of effort in them, Kaoru-kun,” Rei spoke next, running his warm hand through Kaoru’s soft, sandy-colored locks. “I love everything you did for me today almost as much as I love you.”
“I’m happy to hear that, Rei-kun…” Kaoru smiled. “Thank you for accepting my confession.”
Dear Ra*bits,
Thank you kindly for your help on Valentine’s Day~
Rei-kun and I shared our feelings for one another, and you were right, everything did work out in the end, although I couldn’t have done it without your help.
I appreciate everything you did for us, so please let me know if you’re ever stuck in a rough situation, okay? Allow me to return the favor. I won’t forget how much help you’ve been. I love you guys, and I’ll be cheering you all on! xoxo~
Your friend, Kaoru <3
Tears threatened to spill from Nazuna’s eyes as he read the letter he received from Kaoru out loud to the rest of the members of Ra*bits. He really has grown a lot, huh?
A smile graced the faces of all four of the boys as they joined in a hug. Kaoru deserved it, he deserved to be happy, and the four of them could agree.