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Kaoru’s breath hitches at the unexpected gentleness in Kojiro’s touch as he begins scrubbing lightly at his scalp. When Kojiro had asked him if he wanted to join him in the shower after another late night at S, Kaoru’s immediate response was a tired sigh. He did not have the energy to be intimate after the week he had. It had even taken a good five minutes of convincing on Kojiro’s part to even get him to go to Crazy Rock in the first place.
“Just a shower,” Kojiro said softly in response, “Promise.”
Unable to deny him anything when his eyes go all soft and tender like that, Kaoru had willingly followed behind him into the bathroom. And when Kaoru went to reach for his shampoo and Kojiro stopped him, he only furrowed his eyebrows and yielded to the request.
“Let me take care of you,” Kojiro murmured into his ear, “You do so much all the time…”
Kaoru only hums in response, the feeling of fingers delicately working against his head is surprisingly distracting. He lets out a breath that feels like it’s been held in for far too long, one he was unaware of holding in the first place. It’s the beginning of a larger unfurling, as if the stress and tensions he’s been carrying with him all week are being rinsed away along with the shampoo down the drain.
Neither of them utter a word, a relaxing silence between the two as the water streams down each of them. Kojiro reaches out to grab the conditioner and Kaoru doesn’t stop him when he begins to rake his fingers through the ends of his hair. The amount of care he’s putting into detangling Kaoru’s hair is tangible enough for Kaoru to feel his throat begin to tighten. When Kojiro is finished, he carefully gathers all the hair to one side, pressing a sweet kiss to Kaoru’s now exposed shoulder. And another. And another. Across his shoulders and back and neck, each one adding to the swelling of Kaoru’s heart.
Deft hands lather soap across the planes of his body, slowly and adoringly. Kojiro is treating him with the utmost care, as if he is his most valued possession. Kaoru feels the prickling of tears behind his eyes as the feeling of being so utterly loved and treasured overwhelms him.
More kisses smattered along the lines of his body. ‘Love you’ and ‘So beautiful’ murmured against wet skin, between each press of his lips.
Kaoru lets out a shuddering breath before grabbing Kojiro by the cheeks and pulling him up to look him in the eye. It’s hard to tell after being in the stream of water but Kaoru has let a few tears fall. However, his voice is obviously wet and thick with emotion when he speaks.
“Thank you,” he whispers, a shaky thing.
Kojiro brings one hand up to cup his face, thumb brushing across his cheekbone with the same tender care that he’s been giving to Kaoru the whole time.
“Of course, Ru.” he says simply.
“I love you,” Kaoru whispers again, his voice breaking with emotion, “So much.”
“C’mere,” Kojiro says, his eyes turning even softer before pulling Kaoru into his chest.
The water is beginning to get cold and Kaoru thinks, absentmindedly, that Kojiro hadn’t even had the chance to clean himself off, but he cannot bring himself to truly care. He lets himself be held, lets himself bask in this feeling of being treasured and so, so, so loved. Safe and warm (and clean) in the arms of the man he loves most and who loves him even more in return.