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As much as Kanekuro hated to admit it, today was indeed not his day.
Somehow, God decided to make some idiots making trouble in his territory so that he himself had to dirty his own hand with their disgusting blood. And as if it wasn't enough, he had to finish stacks of paperwork to cover his subordinate's accidental bomb placing and bullets went to wrong targets that lead to massive destruction of a tower office into crumbs and bits.
He was so dead tired and borderline ready to snap. One more push, and Kanekuro wouldn't think twice to kill anyone who dares disturb his plan to get back home even if it was his most trusted man. They should've known better if they were truly his follower.
All he wanted right now was going straight to bed. A nice batch would be nice, but he was too tired for it. Not that it would be his first time sleeping without cleaning first; Eki had once complained that his room reeked of blood and sweat the next morning. Kanekuro only shrugged, not caring the slightest. There was plenty of room in this house to begin with; he could move to another room anytime if the smell had begun to annoy him.
Kanekuro glared at his men who had escorted him once he stepped outside the car, silently commanding them to scram. He enjoyed how they flinched and did as they were told―a bunch of pathetic scaredy cats, all of them.
...Well. I'm home, at last.
The mafia boss sighed as he walked to the front door. It was already late. He doubted anyone was still awakeーexcept that bastard Rias, but there was a chance he wasn't currently at home―so he didn't even say his greeting. All he wanted to do right now was walk straight to his room and sleep. Not even Rias could make him stop no matter how annoyed he would be just by knowing the bastard dared to show his face in front of him; bed was now his first and foremost priority.
Or so he thought it was.
"Kanekuro, welcome hーoh my god you okay?!"
The man halted his step and stared at the source of the voice. "Hikarino?" Kanekuro frowned. "What are you...? Why are you here in the living room?"
True to his words, there was Hikarino awkwardly half-stood alone from his originally sitting position in the living room. The light was dim, but even so he could see the ridiculous mixture of panicked and worried expression painted on the sorcerer's face as he stared at his clothes colored in blood, hands hanging in the air wanting to touch him but hesitated. It was kind of cute that Kanekuro had to hide a smile.
Kanekuro idly noted the fallen book on the floor and other books stacked beside the sofa, accompanied with a half-drunk cup of tea. His first instinct was telling him to drape his jacket on Hikarino's bare shoulder when he saw him wearing nothing but simple pants and sleeveless shirt, but he stopped midway thoughts realizing it must be reeked in blood and gunpowder.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, eyes locked on the stacks of books, barely reading the book's title. He never saw that book in this house so it must be a sorcery-related one.
Hikarino broke from his panicked stupor and stared at him confused, "Me? I've just finished reading reports about demons and spirits―no, that's not important! Are you hurt?! Do you―do you need to sit down?! Here!"
"Calm down," Kanekuro smiled in amusement. "This is not my blood."
"...Oh."
His worried expression gradually melted down, morphed into relief before it exploded in embarrassed red. Hikarino slowly sat back, eyes averted in shame, and picked up the falling book on the ground to his lap.
It's always amusing to see how openly expressive Hikarino was. Compared to those snobbish men who spend nothing but spew bullshit with a deadpan face, his clumsiness was a fresh breath of air.
Kanekuro then hung his jacket elsewhere and sat next to the sorcerer. The sigh in content couldn't help but escape from his mouth, enjoying the softness of the sofa and the warm presence of someone right next to him.
It's always nice to have someone who doesn't smell like death and deceit close to his reach.
The man promptly sighed as fatigue hit his nerves and closed his eyes. Today was really exhausting, no doubt. He was tempted to go straight to bed like he had originally planned to do, but his body was already so attached to the softness of this sofa that he might need to wait for a few minutes. Best before drowsiness overcame him.
Kanekuro could sense Hikarino’s stare on him. It was not hard to know even if he hadn’t opened his eyes as his ears caught the sound of rustling fabric and the weight beside him constantly changed its position. Nevertheless, he chose not to make a remark about it. If Hikarino had a question or something to say, he knew the sorcerer would already say it sooner or later. All he needed was to wait patiently.
“...Um, Kanekuro?”
The man cracked an eye open and glanced at the man. “What is it?”
“Are you…okay? It’s rare to see you like this…”
“...”
Kanekuro opened his eyes fully and stared at the man. Unlike before, the panic on his face was completely gone leaving pure worries and a touch of foreign caring. He had never seen such an expression directed to him that it was scaringly warming his heart. A part of him wanted to push such emotion away and buried it to deep abyss, yet another part of him wanted to hold it tight like a moth to flames.
Was it alright to keep it harboring his mind? He didn’t know. But perhaps it wouldn’t hurt to indulge himself from time to time.
“I’m okay,” he finally answered, offering a small smile in hope to ease his worry. “Just a little bit tired.”
Hikarino frowned, not satisfied at all with his answer. “Then you should sleep right now. Do you need help to bring you back?”
“Later. Just leave me alone for a sec.”
“You will catch a cold sleeping here.”
“A little sickness won’t kill me. Don’t be dramatic.”
Hikarino pouted. Kanekuro, who saw his change of expression, chuckled softly before leaning his head sinking deeper to the couch and closing his eyes, enjoying his small victory. He had promised himself not to fall asleep here. His worries were unfounded. Kanekuro clearly could take care of himself.
(Even if he failed to follow his own plan, which was pretty often whenever it’s about his own health, then so be it. He alone shall be the one who held responsibility for his own poor decision. Dragging another person to his soon-to-be pity party would only bring bad taste to his mouth.
Kanekuro was used to not having no one to care for his own wellbeing, anyway. Too many people wished for his own death and living until old age was rarely an option—a miracle, for a better word—for a mafia boss.)
“Why are you still here?” This time it’s Kanekuro who raised the question. “Go back to your room. It’s already late anyway.”
Hikarino made a frustrated noise. He couldn’t see what kind of expression Hikarino was making but from the sound he was making, most probably the man was continuing to pout. What an adorable creature.
“T…then,” he answered back. “If you don’t want to go back, neither do I. I’ll accompany you here until you decide to go to your room.”
“...Suit yourself.”
They later fell into a comfortable silence. Kanekuro didn’t pay attention to what Hikarino did next as he still felt his presence beside him and focused more on relaxing his ached body. His ears barely caught the soft sounds of a book being cracked open, rustling paper occasionally, and the soft hum.
It was, in a way, relaxing. He once thought the sounds of rustling paper would frustrate him down with his stressful days with the mountains of paperwork, but he didn’t know it would be this nice when it was not him who was handling said paper. It gave the impression of someone else taking care of the hassling work on his behalf and it eased his growing stress tremendously.
Before he knew it, he had been lulled by the sounds he could feel his body was getting lighter, lighter, lighter, and…
“...kuro. Kanekuro.”
Kanekuro opened his eyes with a snap and hand automatically grabbed the gun on his hips. It took him two seconds to realize he was still alive and not dying—he honestly thought his soul was in the process of leaving his own body, holy hell—and the one who sat beside him was no other than Hikarino himself. Thank God he didn’t immediately raise his gun, or else it would invite another unneeded problem and awkwardness.
Hikarino, knowing the on-going train thoughts of the man beside him, sighed. “You’re clearly tired,” he said, speaking in such a motherly tone Kanekuro could feel a slash of guilt building up. “You sure you don’t want to go back now?”
And losing my chance to spend private time with you? was almost escaped from his mouth but Kanekuro successfully bit it down. He couldn’t show this side to anyone—he was Luca Kanekuro, the king of the darker side of the world, whether in the uncertain past or ever-strange present. It was pathetic of him to be attached to someone else when all he needed—all he could completely rely on without worrying of backstabbing—was his own self.
The sorcerer’s eyes went soft. His hand was extended, cupped Kanekuro’s face and caressed his cheek. “Don’t be embarrassed,” his voice was soft, yet felt so loud that it echoed inside his head. “All creatures are allowed to be weak sometimes, even if they are fated to be the Gods itself. That’s what my acquaintances back in my old world once told me.”
Kanekuro blinked in daze. How do you know…? He wanted to ask about it, yet his touch was so warm he couldn’t help but lean to it, desperately wanting to ingrain it to his head.
This was his first time someone comforted him with such gentleness. He was a man who was born to be king, and since then he had been prepared to shoulder his own responsibility—no imperfection was allowed, no show of weakness even slightest was allowed. As he was the king, the perfect leader of his people and the front identity of his family.
Not even Ma or Pa ever did this to me, Kanekuro felt a hot feeling bubbled inside his chest. Yet Hikarino, you…
Now Kanekuro completely understood why Rias was so protective of this sorcerer. This warmth, this foreign yet gentle feeling—not even the most precious treasure of the century was worth it compared to Hikarino’s presence.
As foolish as it sounded, he wanted to stay like this forever.
“If you still don’t want to go to your room, then here,” Hikarino let go his hold on his face to pat his thighs. “Lay your head on my lap. That way you can rest even more comfortably.”
“...” Kanekuro stared in a thousand yard. “What?”
“You heard me. Just do it, Kanekuro. At least you can extend your legs. It must be aching, isn’t it?”
“But—” the black haired man halted his words and contemplated for a moment. Couldn’t find a word to retaliate, he groaned. Soft red hues colored his cheek and tips of his ears. “Fine, fine,” he said. “Whatever. Just wake me up if I accidentally fall asleep again, alright.”
“Yes, yes. Now come here, the faster the better. I still need to finish my book.”
“Easier said than done…” Kanekuro grumbled under his breath. Usually he would accept his offer without ease, but right now his emotion was in shambles and now he was experiencing surges of foreign and annoying emotion he couldn’t even know how to control properly. He had to fight the feeling of uninvited embarrassment just to successfully lay his head on Hikarino’s lap without making it too weird.
Damn, this was too embarrassing. If only he could delete himself right now.
Kanekuro let out a sigh as he finally found a perfect position to straighten his back and legs without making it dangling uselessly on the armrest. It felt so good—combined with how soft Hikarino’s thighs were, he might get addicted to this.
(He completely forgot about the chance of him staining the sofa with the half-dried blood on his clothes, but he never cared about it in the first place. He had more than enough money to buy a nicer and bigger sofa.
God loved the rich.)
“Better, isn’t it?” Kanekuro looked up and found Hikarino was smiling at him. “Now you can close your eyes and rest. I will keep an eye for you, do not worry.”
“...” Not answering, the tired mafia boss chose to turn to his side facing Hikarino’s body. He didn’t want him to see his flustered expression; it’s super dumb and not so himself.
Ah, Kanekuro felt a soft touch on top of his hair. It went up and down, all in the same stroke and same gentleness, until it hit him that it was a hair pat. Hikarino was giving him a pat while humming a tune he didn’t recognize yet comforting.
Is this what people call as peacefulness? He wondered. As someone who had lived in between life and death for the longest time he could remember, he was unknown to what people in this world described as ‘peace’. IAs far as he knew, peace was a hollow momentum to give a false sense of security before another bloodshed broke down sooner or later. He never knew something like this could exist.
Not that he minded it—never in his lifetime.
Kanekuro could feel his eyes become heavier and heavier. His mind for a moment recalled his promise to himself, yet he couldn’t remember what it was again. His mind was too foggy to think; and if he forgot about it then it meant it’s not that important.
The last thing he could remember was the comforting hum, and gentlest touch on his hair before the darkness completely engulfed his consciousness. Kanekuro had fallen asleep not so long after he lay his head down on Hikarino’s lap.
“Good night, Kanekuro,” Hikarino whispered down. He peered at the stacks of books he planned to read and the recently refilled tea by his newly acquired shikigami. He needed to know more about the creatures of this current world if he wanted to get more contracts. “You don’t have to worry about showing weakness to me. If I can show mine, so can you. Isn’t that right, zashiki warashi -san?”
The shikigami, zashiki warashi the youkai of wealthiness, fluttered in agreement. Hikarino chuckled at the sight before going back to his books.
Yesterday, and perhaps today too, might be not Kanekuro’s day.
As expected, Eki wasn’t happy to find both of them fell asleep on the sofa and not in their respective rooms. Not to mention Hikarino had been giving Kanekuro a lap pillow that he had difficulty standing up because of cramps—inviting more anger and scolding from Eki.
Rias too, for days, had been a massive nuisance ever since he found out that Kanekuro lately had spent more private time with Hikarino. Not new, and not unwelcome as the mafia boss saw this as more opportunity to show this particular shit ass who’s superior among those two.
His only salvation was his relationship with Hikarino had become closer than before. Box, too, overall was supportive with everyone started to get along with each other with little hassle. While his secretive smile sometimes spook him out, at very least he know no one would stab him in the back. At very, very least without any beforehand warning.
Yesterday, and perhaps today too, might be not Kanekuro’s day.
Nevertheless, he wouldn’t exchange that night memory—and perhaps the future one too—with anything.