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kuro stares at the man in front of him, jaw slightly agape. he's still in shock over what he's been told - keito went out of his way to call akatsuki together for this?
“...yer kidding. you’ve gotta be, right, danna?”
keito shakes his head, looking serious as ever.
“i am not. i feel that this would be a good winter experience for the three of us to improve our coordination as a unit.”
“ya wanna see me fall on my ass. admit it.”
their gazes meet, and though kuro's borderline glaring, keito's expression remains cool. the atmosphere in the room begins to grow tense right as a third voice pipes in.
“...if my input is allowed, i believe it would be a fun exercise for the three of us!”
both of souma’s seniors immediately turn to face him, keito bearing a wide grin and kuro a glance that could only be interpreted as a cry for help. keito gives souma a proud nod of approval
“my thoughts exactly. thank you, kanzaki. you understand.”
while souma beams at the praise, kuro looks much less pleased.
“he understands because he’s a damn graceful dancer, hasumi!”
keito shakes his head, his decision final.
“no buts. you’re outnumbered two to one, kiryuu. we’re going ice skating.”
souma gives a cheer to celebrate their now official trip as a unit, but kuro pinches the bridge of his nose, exasperated. keito wasn't the kind of person to ask to go ice skating out of nowhere. just what the hell was kuro getting himself into?
~
a couple days later, souma's full of energy as the three head to the rink, hardly able to contain himself from sprinting to the stadium.
“kiryu-dono, hasumi-dono! i am excited to try this “ise skay-tuhng”! i have never been.”
kuro, despite being very against the idea of ice skating, chuckles at his junior’s antics.
“calm down now, kanzaki, we’re not even on the rink yet. and be careful with your sword, especially once we get inside. there's lottsa kids there, ya don’t wanna hurt ‘em.”
“yes, sir!”
he returns to his place a few feet in front of his seniors, cheerfully humming to himself. now that souma’s gone, kuro takes the opportunity to address his boss yet again.
“danna, you really did just wanna see me eat shit, didn’t ya.”
“of course not, kiryu. don’t be absurd.”
despite how keito projects his words, the small smirk on his face is incredibly obvious. kuro sighs, choosing to ignore this and continue making his way to the stadium in silence.
once the three enter the rink, it's not long before they all have their skates on. they stand together at the entrance to the rink. kuro stares down at the ice in front of him, beginning to regret his decision to tag along. before he can think too much on it, keito steps onto the ice, and he's quickly able to skate with ease.
kuro rolls his eyes, though with no ill intent.
“damn showoff," he mutters under his breath, quiet enough that only he can hear.
souma follows shortly behind keito. though he skates close to the wall at first to prevent falling, his superb sense of balance allows him to hold his footing. as expected of kanzaki, kuro thinks. souma's eyes light up when he begins to get the hang of it, and he skates confidently forward to the center of the rink.
“look on, seniors of akatsuki! for i have mastered the art of ice skating!”
keito's expression softens, and kuro gives a short round of applause from his spot outside of the rink.
“ahaha, not bad, kanzaki. you’re doin’ great.”
keito turns to face kuro after witnessing souma's impressive display, beckoning for kuro to join them on the ice.
“it’s your turn, kiryu. don’t keep us waiting too long.”
kuro’s smile is quickly replaced with a glare in keito’s direction, but he recognizes he doesn't have much choice but to join them. he takes one last breath to steady himself, and reluctantly, kuro steps onto the ice.
he’d wager that he lasted maybe 30 seconds before he was holding the railing by the wall for dear life, having narrowly avoided a faceplant on the ice.
souma, ever the innocent one, was quick to skate to kuro’s side, concern lighting up his features.
“kiryu-dono! are you alright? that could have been a nasty tumble if not for the railing.”
kuro nods, though his grip on the railing doesn't loosen any.
“don’t worry too much, kanzaki. ‘m okay, just lame at skating.”
there was a beat of silence, and then kuro's head whips around to glare at the source of the faint laughter he managed to pick up.
“oi, danna! it’s not funny! quit yer laughin’!”
souma whips around as well, seeing if kuro’s accusations are true, but unfortunately for the redhead in question, keito’s incredibly good at masking his facial expressions.
souma glances back and forth from one senior to the other, a confused look on his face.
“he doesn’t seem to be laughing, kiryu-dono.”
“forget it, i musta been seein’ things.”
he gets up, continuing to attempt to skate. although souma and keito easily skate circles around the center, kuro stays within an arm’s length of the railing. his skating is comparable to that of a child’s, and looking up to find keito’s occasional amused smirk is not helping his resolve any.
souma, worrying for his senior, eventually skates over, wanting to help out. kuro's not surprised by that in the slightest - souma's always been kind like that. what he is surprised by, though, is souma's enthusiastic offer.
“kiryu-dono! i’m going to assist you! grab my hands!”
“ah… i’d rather not-”
souma's expression drops into a frown, but he's still as persistent as ever, not dropping his hands.
“you must! we must skate together as akatsuki!”
kuro is silent, pondering for a minute. souma takes advantage of that silence, giving kuro a pleading expression.
“please?”
at this point, kuro knows he's trapped. there’s no way he could let down his junior, so with a sigh, he agrees.
“alright. i’ll come out with you.”
“hooray! alright, grab onto my arms!”
kuro does as he’s told, but as soon as he lets go of the wall, he’s shaking like a baby deer learning how to walk.
“k-kanzaki, i ain’t so sure about all this…”
souma, seeing no problem with kuro's current state, continues moving forward anyway.
“relax, i’ll just be bringing you to hasumi-dono!”
the two ended up making quite a scene, with kuro almost running directly into someone because of his inability to stop properly. by the time the two reach the center of the rink where keito is standing, kuro’s certain he’s embarrassed the three of them to the point where they won't be returning to the stadium anytime soon.
as they skate up to keito, kuro expects to be laughed at. instead of being smug, however, keito has a genuine smile on his face.
“thank you, kiryu. for today.”
kuro raises an eyebrow, confused.
“what are ya talkin’ about?”
“well, your initial assumption was right. to be frank, i did bring you here to laugh at you a little, as i figured skating wasn’t your forte.”
souma lets out a loud gasp, mouth agape in surprise.
“hasumi-dono! that is very unusual for someone as dutiful as yourself!”
keito nods, but his smile remains sincere.
“well, kiryu did promise me he’d do anything to get me out of a slump if i was struggling to work. and… recently, our unit’s work has been tough. i remembered your offer and took you up on it. it sounded incredibly incorrigible at first, as do most of your suggestions, but laughing helped me relax. so, thank you, kiryu. i don’t know what this unit would do without you.”
kuro and souma both find themselves at a loss for words. it takes a minute for kuro to finally process the events that just took place before him. keito... he remembered kuro's advice from back then? and he used it because he needed a break? kuro breaks into a grin of his own, and moves to ruffle keito’s hair.
“danna, you don’t have to be all secretive whenever yer strugglin’ to work, y'know. the two of us are here for a reason, yeah? you should've just told us you were strugglin' from the beginning.”
it was keito’s turn to look mortified as he struggles to push kuro away from him, but to no avail.
“kiryu-! there’s no need to get that close! we’re in public, you absolute buffoon-!”
his cries were in vain, however, as souma was quick to join in, making it a group hug as he grins up at his seniors.
“i am also thankful to hear you’re taking a break, hasumi-dono! you work hard very often; you are much overdue for a break!”
keito eventually reciprocates the hug, but not without a long, exasperated sigh.
“i’m thankful for you two helping me out. now, get off of me!”
kuro laughs as he pulls away. “aye-aye, captain.”
as souma pulls away from the hug as well, his eyes light up with an idea, and he looks happily back at keito.
“hasumi-dono! if we both held kiryu-dono’s hands, do you think he could skate with us?”
keito considers it for a moment before he speaks.
“hmm. interesting suggestion, kanzaki.”
he turns to kuro, trying to gage the taller man's opinion on the idea.
“well, kiryu? are you up for it?”
kuro curses his inability to say no to either of them. he holds his hands up for them to take, resigning himself to his fate.
“ah, why the hell not.”
and with that, souma eagerly grabs one of kuro’s hands, while keito hesitantly grabs the other.
he must look strange, kuro thinks, being led around the rink like a child like this. he's sure the three of them look like some sort of strange, dysfunctional family.
perhaps, kuro thinks to himself, that’s how he truly wants to view akatsuki - as a family. not a strict group formed only to serve one purpose, or a group meant to be in the shadow of another - just three people who met by chance, but formed a bond stronger than most. three friends who are there for each other when they need it most.
and in this moment, there’s nowhere he’d rather be than with this treasured family of his.