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Kaito lets Kokichi run ahead of him onto the porch. As he jogs up behind, taking the stairs two at a time, he lowers his jacket down from above their heads and shakes the water droplets onto the welcome mat. The portico keeps the downpour off their faces as Kokichi fishes out his house keys, jams the key in the lock, and pushes the door open. Kaito breathes a sigh of relief as he enters the house behind his boyfriend, relishing the dry, comforting warmth of the foyer.
He doesn’t get cold easy or anything like that, but it’s been pouring like crazy out there for the past fifteen minutes, and Kaito’s shirt and pants have long since soaked through. Not to mention the wind. He closes the door with his shoulder and peels off of his slippers, wrinkling his nose as they drip on the welcome mat. Yuck.
“Kai-chan should reeeaaally just give up and start wearing velcro shoes,” Kokichi comments, eyebrows raised, watching the water pool.
“That’s childish!” Kaito protests, with a huff. “Besides, these are comfortable!”
“What, and wearing slippers in the rain isn’t childish? You have some weird standards, y’know.” Kokichi shakes his head as he steps out of his own shoes, sliding them neatly into his shoe cubby. He trades them out for his indoor slippers, and Kaito does the same, cupping his dearly departeds with a hand and padding over to the laundry bin. They land against the side with a shlop, and like, gross. He should run a load tomorrow, but his muscle are sore, and his knees barely avoid knocking together even in the warmth. All Kaito really has the energy for right now is collapse in bed, and he still needs to take a shower, lest he get sick. He shakes himself off, waiting for Kokichi to finish hanging up their coats before he mounts the stairs.
There’s another laundry bin up by their bedroom, which Kaito stops by, pulling off his shirt and tossing it in. He’ll have to stop by the bedroom for a change of clothes before he showers, but he doesn’t bother relocating before he takes off his pants, tossing them into the bin on top of his shirt. He spares Kokichi a glance before he nudges the bedroom door open with his shoulder and slips inside.
It’s a bit chilly in here with the heat off. Kaito remedies this situation and walks over to the drawer for a new pair of boxers, and like, maybe a shirt? He doesn’t usually spring for one, but he’ll probably get cold tonight without it, and the idea is to avoid getting sick if he can help it. That’d be great. He settles on an old t-shirt from back when he was in college (it still fits fine) and turns, watching Kokichi shuffle into the bedroom, pulling his binder off over his head.
“You wanna take the first one?” Kaito asks, raising his eyebrows.
Kokichi snorts as he looks over. “I’m not the one who gets sick easy. Go, just be fast. Don’t stand under the water thinking about space, okay?”
Part of Kaito wants to protest that he doesn’t get sick that easily, but in the interest of not making his boyfriend stand around shivering for any longer than he has to be, Kaito just grabs his clothes and drops a kiss onto the top of Kokichi’s head as he passes. He makes his way to the bathroom and pushes the door open with his foot. Barely more than a minute later, he’s in the shower, sighing under the stream of hot water, one of his hands reaching for a shampoo bottle and the other running through his hair, detangling the gelled clumps.
Man. Kaito loves the rain, but it’s really not the best when you’re not prepared for it and you have to walk home. That shit got cold. He’s glad to have been in it with Kokichi, though; Kaito’s never been with somebody who he enjoys as much as he enjoys Kokichi before, who makes him feel so challenged, so seen… it’s nice, even on rainy days like today where it was coming down too hard for them to jump in puddles and try and splash one another. Kaito’s got a lot to be thankful for.
He rushes through lathering up twice, giving his scalp a good scrub and soak in conditioner, then does a final rinse of his hair before turning off the water. There should be plenty of hot water left for Kokichi. He squeezes out his hair and steps out onto the shower mat, wrapping himself in a towel and drying off just enough to dress, then draping the towel around his shoulders and stepping out of the bathroom. He can blow dry once Kokichi’s in the shower and not waiting for his turn.
When Kokichi passes Kaito on his way to the bathroom, he pops up onto his toes to plant a kiss on Kaito’s jaw, grinning broadly and skipping inside. Kaito huffs out a laugh, his chest warming, and shakes his head, stepping back into their bedroom and walking over to where the blow dryer is plugged in.
He has to be kind of careful with these things, because Kaito already runs a little warm and if he leaves it one place for too long he tends to overheat, but there’s something nice about the act of drying one’s hair. It’s relaxing. Kaito hums under his breath, his eyes closed, running his fingers through his hair as he dries it. Man, he’s sleepy. The combination of the warm shower and the hot air from the blow dryer always lulls him to sleep. He waits, though, bouncing his leg up and down as he sits on the edge of the bed, for Kokichi to be finished with his shower. He doesn’t want to go to bed without his boyfriend here.
When Kaito’s hair is thoroughly dry and warm to boot, he turns off the device and lays it down on the desk, scooting back against the headboard and sticking out his legs. He always sort of misses Kokichi in moments like these, which is stupid, because he’s just a room away, but…
Kokichi has this inimitable way of filling a space. He’s so energetic, so lively, so bright and intelligent and funny and charismatic. He used to frustrate the shit out of Kaito, but only because he was so difficult to read. Nowadays they have an understanding, and it’s not like Kaito knows everything about Kokichi, but he doesn’t need to. He knows what he needs to know, and the rest, he trusts Kokichi enough to go without.
His friend Maki called him an idiot once for trusting Kokichi so blindly. It had been frustrating to hear, in that way it’s always frustrating, when people imply that Kokichi can’t be trusted, but Maki’s heart had been in the right place, so Kaito doesn’t blame her for it. It’s just that… nobody knows Kokichi the way that Kaito does. Nobody in Kaito’s life has seen the sides of him that Kaito has, and that’s… nice, it’s wonderful, and it makes Kaito feel more special than anyone in the world, but at the same time it’s sort of prohibiting, because it means that they have no way of understanding why it is that Kaito’s so in love with him.
Kaito supposes he doesn’t mind so much. He wouldn’t want anyone else to get to see Kokichi the way that he does, not really. It can just be frustrating at times to see people misunderstand Kokichi when he’s not so hard to get if you put the effort in. Maybe Kaito just doesn’t like seeing good people miss out on the best person in his life because they won’t look past first impressions. Maybe Kaito is just in love.
The shower shuts off, and Kaito looks up, eyebrows raised. It’s not long before the bathroom door creaks open and Kokichi pads out, his hair dripping and wet, wrapped in a big, fluffy purple towel that is decidedly Kaito’s. The t-shirt he’s wearing is Kaito’s too, a large and ratty Star Trek shirt that he forgot he had, but it warms Kaito to see Kokichi in his clothes. It’s intimate, domestic. Kaito hadn’t been able to replicate the feeling in any of his previous relationships and he wouldn’t want to. Kokichi is one of a kind.
The man of the hour flops into Kaito’s chest, towel and all, and brings up his legs so he can rest in Kaito’s lap, wet head flopping down on Kaito’s shoulder. He yawns, getting comfortable, eyes already closing, and Kaito snorts, lifting his hand to jostle Kokichi a little.
“You gotta dry your hair,” he chides softly, “or you’ll get sick.”
“Don’t wanna,” Kokichi mumbles. “World hard and cold, boyfriend soft and warm.”
Kaito smiles at that, but he still says, “The hair dryer isn’t cold.”
“But is it soft?” Kokichi opens one eye, staring up at Kaito. “Can it cuddle me the way that you can? I think not, gay man.”
Kaito laughs and shuffles to the edge of the bed, reaching for the hair dryer and switching it back on. Instead of pressing the subject, he starts to dry Kokichi’s hair, running his fingers through it and switching locations frequently so as not to burn his scalp. Kokichi hums, eyes fluttering closed, and leans into the touch with a yawn. He’s cute. He’s a million things other than cute-- handsome, intelligent, the most wonderful person Kaito has ever known-- but right now, in this moment, all soft edges and sleepy sighs, Kokichi is cute.
When his hair is dry, Kaito turns off the blow dryer and places it down on the desk, tucking an arm under Kokichi’s legs and shuffling backwards onto the bed, getting comfortable on top of the mattress. Kokichi lets out a pleased hum, but wiggles out of Kaito’s embrace, flipping Kaito over onto his other side.
“Hey!” Kaito protests, turning his head.
“My turn as big spoon,” Kokichi explains, without opening his eyes. He latches onto Kaito’s back, arms curling around his waist, and plants a kiss on the back of his neck. Kaito feels it when Kokichi grins into his skin, and sighs, shaking his head minutely.
“You never forget, huh?”
Kokichi giggles. “You love that about me.”
He does. Kaito places one of his hands on top of Kokichi’s, drumming his fingers against his knuckles. “I love everything about you,” he whispers, his smile seeping into his voice, and Kokichi hums against his neck, placing a couple more sloppy kisses.
“Sap,” Kokichi mumbles. From his voice, Kaito can tell that he’s been flustered, which Kaito decides to take as a victory, snuggling back into the embrace.
“You love that about me,” Kaito says, just a touch cheekily, and Kokichi lets out a huff, shaking Kaito a little, which is a power afforded to him as the big spoon. Dick.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Kokichi groans, leaning his forehead against the nape of Kaito’s neck. After a pause, though, he finishes, “I love everything about you too, stupid. Now go to sleep before I pinch your pulse point.”
The threat makes him laugh. Kaito doesn’t doubt that Kokichi knows exactly how to knock him out with a pinch, but it’s an empty threat regardless. Kokichi would never hurt him.
It’s… nice to be held by somebody he trusts so wholeheartedly. Kaito brings one of Kokichi’s hands to his lips and kisses each finger, closing his eyes and settling into the pillows. He mumbles an I love you against Kokichi’s knuckle, then lets their joint hands drop back to their sides.
As Kaito drifts asleep, enveloped in warmth, his breaths synched with Kokichi’s, he feels his boyfriend return the sentiment, and smiles into his pillow.