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Kaoru reasoned with himself that his life was just crazy enough that this might as well happen. He was currently contemplating all the ways that he could blame this on Kojiro and not whatever god was out there looking over him, just in case this was an act of spite from said god towards him. What else could it be?
It was hard to make any sense of the situation he seemed to find himself in this time. The situation being a 27-year-old Kaoru standing in front of an 18-year-old Kojiro who seemed just as confused, though it was probably for a very different reason. He had never heard of time travel, but that didn’t negate the possibility of it, nor did it rule out that Kojiro could’ve swapped with his past self in their timelines, however, Kaoru had no memories of an older Kojiro showing up at any point in his life before he came back from Italy (and he would remember someone as...big as Kojiro post-Italy).
There was also the possibility that this was not in fact the same Kojiro from the past, but a Kojiro from an alternate universe or parallel timeline where the younger versions of themselves visit the future, which could also mean that this younger version of his friend was swapped with his Kojiro. All possible options.
“Uhhh, so…who are you?” Young Kojiro asked which made Kaoru’s eyes snap to the teen. Kojiro jumped slightly, clearly not used to the sharp gaze in Kaoru’s eyes quite yet. Or maybe he wasn’t aware that he was Kaoru. He watched the teen closely for a few more seconds, debating his next move carefully from behind his fan which had been covering the bottom half of his face since he found the boy. This Kojiro seemed to be the same one he knew way back when harboring the same hunched-over posture that he had in high school. It was uncanny how he seemed to have been plucked out of Kaoru’s memories and placed right before him.
“Well this is a problem,” Another voice chimed in, one that Kaoru recognized, perhaps even more familiar than his own. His shoulders dropped as he turned around and found his Kojiro standing next to the only person who could make this situation worse than it already was.
“Is that Cherry?” A younger version of Adam asks with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, Kaoru could probably guess what he was thinking, unluckily for him, he doesn’t have to guess. “He looks boring now.”
Kaoru sneered at the teen from behind his fan, but before he could say anything, Kojiro had already spoken up.
“You are so lucky that it’s illegal to punch a kid.” He ground out through teeth clenched. It was obvious that this had been the bulk of what Kojiro had had to deal with for however long younger Adam had been here.
“Wait wait wait, if that’s Cherry,” Young Kojiro said, pointing to Kaoru, “Then does that mean you’re me?” He moves his finger to the older Kojiro. Kaoru goes to respond but sees Kojiro hold up his hand to him, silently telling him not to say anything.
“An older version of you, yes,” He says calmly. How is he not freaking out? Has this happened to him before? And if so why didn’t Kaoru know about it? Maybe he passed it off as a dream when he was younger? Speaking of younger, if young Kaoru wasn’t with Kojiro, but young Adam was, then did that mean…?
“Oh no,” He whispered, snapping his fan shut. Kojiro seemed to be having the same realization as he was and pulled his phone out faster than he could think about it. “Carla, call Shindo Ainosuke, immediately.” He said to the purple bracelet on his wrist, watching as it blinked and then started to ring, not wasting time with any words. After a few seconds of ringing it finally picked up and a voice rang through.
“Oh Blossom, what a lovely surprise, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Adam said, overly sweet and condescending as usual. He sounded the same as always.
“Cut the shit, Adam, where is he?” Kaoru asked sharply.
“I haven’t a clue of who you could be referring to, Cherry darling.”
“Stop that, you know exactly who I’m talking about, where is he? Where is...me!?” He nearly yelled. There was no way in hell he was going to allow his younger self to be in the presence of that asshole for longer than necessary, he had caused enough trauma as it is to the poor teen, without being a creep.
“Oh, him. Well, you’ll be happy to know that he’s fine, we were having a wonderful conversation before you interrupted actually so if you would be so kind as to let me go so I can get back to it-”
“Oh hell no, both of you are coming down to the old diner right now, if not then I will come there myself.” Kaoru threatened, with as much venom he could muster without letting his voice shake with worry. Sure, he wasn’t him per se, but he was still a version of himself, who most likely had the same trauma and would suffer the same hardships that he did, so Kaoru felt some sort of responsibility to protect him as much as he could. Adam paused at his tone.
“Alright fine, but only because I want to figure out how to get rid of him.” His voice turned sour, he seemed like he was holding that one back for a while. It made Kaoru wonder how long his younger self had been here.
“Just get down here as fast as you possibly can. Thanks.” He added the last part as a way to say ‘fuck you’ without outright saying it. He hung up as soon as he could and turned back to the younger version of Kojiro and Adam, and his Kojiro. “Do you two have any idea of how you ended up here?”
They looked at each other for a brief moment before Adam shrugged innocently as if he absolutely knew how and why they were there. Kojiro– the younger one– watched the way that his supposed friend was acting with a look of slight disdain. So he had already started showing his true colors, trying to find his Eve to them at this point. The teen looked back to Kaoru with an apologetic look.
“All I know is that last night Kaoru, Adam, and I got into a bit of a spat after Adam told us he was leaving for America in a few days or some bullshit. And then Kaoru started yelling at me for some reason. And now we’re all here.” Kojiro explained. So that’s where their timeline diverged, Adam in this universe only gave them a few hours' notice before he left.
Kaoru looked to his Kojiro and beckoned him over to the other side of the old parking lot they were currently standing in. The two walked in silence, keeping an eye on the two teens to make sure they didn’t get into an actual fistfight or anything before Ainosuke and young Kaoru showed up.
“How long has it been since you found him?” Kaoru asked almost immediately in a soft yet firm tone, trying not to let their past hear them. Literally.
“I got a text from Miya that there was someone who looked ‘just like Adam but younger’ harassing Langa at the skate park about two hours ago, told them to leave and if he followed them to bring him to Sia, they did and he did and I grilled him on who he was for a good thirty minutes before he gave up.” Kojiro dragged a hand down his face exasperatedly, clearly the teen was just as draining as Kaoru remembered. Kaoru stole a glance back at the two across the parking lot from them, watching as young Kojiro quickly looked away with a slight blush on his face and young Adam stared him down with judgment in his eyes.
“I wonder how long they’ve actually been here.” He thought out loud. If Adam had been here for more than two hours, who knows how long young him had been in Adam’s grasp? And who knows how long young Kojiro had been out here just watching the waves. Kaoru looked at Kojiro, who recognized his fears right away.
“You were always a stubborn and blunt teen, I’m sure you’ve already put Adam in his place, especially considering his younger self just dropped a bomb on you.”
“Yes, but Adam is...Adam, we all know he wouldn’t hesitate to knock me down a few pegs, even if it wasn’t actually me.” He knew that Adam didn’t really care for him, hadn’t cared for him in over ten years, but he still knew that the man held some sort of resentment for him, for being in love with him all those years ago.
“He’ll be here soon enough and we can gauge how bad the damage is then,” Kojiro soothed, “until then we should focus on getting them back.”
“For once I’m inclined to agree with you.” Kaoru teased, slipping into their usual banter easily.
“Aw come on, four eyes, you know I have some good ideas.” Kojiro joked with a half smile on his face.
“Emphasis on some.” And with that he started walking back toward the teens, finding young Kojiro seemed enthralled with something on the ground, while young Adam looked like he was ready to jet at any moment. He probably would, if Kaoru’s being honest, but they can’t let him go without figuring...everything out.
“Oh thank god, you two are done canoodling, can we finally get back to how we’re supposed to get back to where we belong?” Adam said when he noticed the two adults walking back to them. The phrasing of his first statement seemed to shock young Kojiro out of staring at whatever seemed to capture his “attention” and he looked bug-eyed at Adam with crimson cheeks. Adult Kojiro and Kaoru were not phased. The teen was most likely trying to get a raise out of them. And they had most definitely heard the same– or at least something similar– from Miya at least twice.
“We have no idea why you three might be here, or how to get you back, plain and simple.” Kaoru started, seeing as Adam went to make some kind of rude comment, he cut him off before he could start. “However, that doesn’t mean that you don’t know. Tell me, did you have any strange dreams last night, maybe something that felt almost too real to be a dream?”
“Hah, so now we’re going to figure out how to get home via dreams! How clever of you, Cherry Blossom.” Young Adam jeered. He clearly wasn’t gonna be much help until his older self came. That left young Kojiro to help.
“Well considering we’re dealing with time travel and parallel universes, I don’t think a prophetic dream is that far off base, Adam.” Sure he was being a bit salty, but Kaoru thinks he deserves this.
“Uh, I did have a weird dream last night, I mean, I think it was a dream?” Young Kojiro spoke up and raised his hand as if he were in class. They all looked at him as if urging him to continue. “Well uh, I was in bed and I guess I fell asleep or something cause the next thing I heard was a voice telling me something about how ‘He needs to know how you see him’ and the next thing I knew I was here.”
“Who?” Kaoru asked.
“Who?” Young Kojiro looked confused.
“Who was the voice talking about? In your dream?” He clarified.
“Well, uhm, he was– is y-” He was cut off by a car pulling up next to the group and an adult Adam and teenage Kaoru stepping out. Kaoru did a once over of his younger self, seeing no physical signs of any sort of harm which was good, but that doesn’t mean Adam hadn’t done any psychological damage to the young boy. He seemed to be putting on an air of annoyance but Kaoru could see the hurt and confusion in his own eyes. He had put on that same façade many times.
“Kaoru!” Teen Kojiro seemed to relax now that he had eyes on his friend, he didn’t seem to notice the other man on the other side of the car as he rushed over to teen Kaoru. He got to standing in front of him before he hesitated reaching out toward the young boy. Kaoru was almost certain his teen self was yelling internally at Kojiro to just hug him or do something. He would never admit it, especially back then, but Kojiro’s arms were one of the only places where he felt totally at ease and safe from the anxiety and stress of the real world.
“Kojiro,” Teen Kaoru huffed out, and at that single word, he was pulled into a hug by teen Kojiro. Adult Kaoru let out the breath he had been holding as he watched his teenage self also wrap his arms around teen Kojiro. It was sweet to see himself being vulnerable, but the idea of how he got to be that open had Kaoru sending a glare adult Adam’s way. He probably should also partially blame teen Adam for the turmoil he had caused his teen self within the past 12 or so hours.
“Cherry,” Teen Adam said with faux sweetness in his voice. Teen Kaoru snapped his focus over to the other teen, watching him over teen Kojiro’s shoulder like a lion stalking its prey.
“You.” He spat, face still in teen Kojiro’s shoulder which nullified the effects slightly, but not by much.
“Oh don’t take that tone with me, it’s not like I want to go to America.” Teen Adam scoffs, looking in the other direction to the sea.
“You still didn’t tell us until yesterday!” Teen Kaoru shouted, pulling away from the hug with teen Kojiro.
“I hate to break up this catfight, but we still don’t have an idea about how to send the little tykes home.” Adult Adam spoke up as he walked closer to adult Kaoru and Kojiro. Kaoru didn’t let up on his glare and took a moment to glare even harder as he noticed his younger self watch Adam carefully like his next move could be deadly.
“Well, if you had joined us earlier, you would’ve heard that little me had a dream about someone needing to know how he sees them, and if my suspicions are right then that was about one of us.” Kojiro gestured to the three of them. “We just need to figure out what the other’s dreams were about, or who they were about.”
For once, Kojiro sounded like the rational one. He probably was the most reasonable out of all of them, always more level-headed and able to balance out Kaoru’s impulsivity like night and day. Maybe that’s why they stayed together for so long, maybe Kaoru needed Kojiro more than he originally thought. Maybe he already knew that though.
Codependent.
The word cut through Kaoru’s thought process like a knife cutting through warm butter, freezing him in his spot, before he caught himself and lightly chided his mind for such a silly, self-pitying thing to think. He realized that it had been a good few moments since anyone had said anything.
“Well? What was your dream?” Kaoru turned to his younger self. He knew it might take some convincing but he was sure that he could get it out of the boy. Teen Kaoru seemed to do a once over of him and decided that he was also annoyed with him.
“You’re me? I guess it is just a phase.” He said the last part to himself mostly, but it wasn’t hard to hear the disappointment in his voice as he bit his lip, most likely messing with the lip ring.
Boring.
“Oh trust me, if I wanted to go back to that style, I would, but unfortunately for both of us, my career doesn’t really allow for...deviations from the norm. I just thought I would lean into the farce, not my fault traditional is comfortable.” Kaoru couldn’t lie, he did miss being able to express himself with his piercings and cool hairstyles, but for one, he had an image to uphold– and lord knows he would never let anyone see past his façade again– and two, he could express himself in his work...and covered piercings.
“Whatever,” Teen Kaoru dismissed his older self, in favor of watching the adult Kojiro. Adult Kaoru could see the intrigue in his eyes as he flitted his eyes across the gorilla’s body, unsurprisingly. Adult Kaoru had done exactly the same thing the first time he saw Kojiro in person after he came back from Italy. He wasn’t ashamed to say that Kojiro was attractive.
“Come on Kaoru, we already know what my younger self dreamt about-”
“We do?” Kaoru cut him off, but Kojiro continued.
“We need to know to help you get back.” There was a pause, during which teenage Kaoru looked at teenage Kojiro for confirmation, who only shrugged before he turned back to the adults and sighed.
“I heard a voice saying that I needed to ‘show him his fatal flaw’ then I blacked out and woke up in an empty pool behind his mansion.” He explained, pointing to adult Adam and crossing his arms over his chest. They stood there and all turned to teen Adam next, who had been uncharacteristically silent for a few minutes. He seemed to be staring down the driver in the front seat of the car that had brought Adam and teen Kaoru. Adult Kaoru could see it was Snake from the tournament.
“And I bet you all expect me to share the supposed ‘dream’ I had last night that led me to be trapped here instead of on a plane halfway to America? Well, news flash, I haven’t had a dream since I was a child.” Teen Adam snapped.
“He’s lying.” Adult Adam spoke up, for the first time since his arrival.
“And how would you know? I don’t know if you’re really me, you could-”
“We’ve had one dream ever since childhood, in the dream we would run off with...someone and be free of the role we were born to fulfill, free to skate and live. The dream ends with us being pulled away from that life by our father.” Silence. “Once that dream came true, we started having doubts about friendships.”
Adult Kaoru stared at adult Adam like the man had finally, truly lost it. He sounded like someone had just killed his pet dog in front of him, and looked like an abysmal excuse of an Adam impersonator. He couldn’t believe that all the harm he had done to others could be chalked up to a bad dream. Sure there must have been more, but to just explain it as a nightmare is insane. Even more insane if that works at getting the teen to talk.
“‘Ease his fears’ is what the voice said.” Well, holy fuck.
“Was that so hard?” Adam was back to the fake smiles that didn’t reach his eyes and the fake-sounding upbeat voice. It was kind of creepy. “Well now that we have the dreams laid out, what happens next? You seemed to know all about this whole time-travel-parallel-universe mumbo jumbo, don’t you, Joe?” God, he’s so punchable.
“Well, maybe if we ask them about who their dream was about we can figure out who they need to talk to.” Kojiro pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. They all turned once again to the teens, who all looked like they would rather do anything else. “Well, we could always just guess. Maybe the younger version of ourselves is supposed to talk to us respectively.”
Teen Kaoru scoffed.
“You really are just a pretty face,” Kaoru could tell Kojiro didn’t know whether to be offended or flattered. “If we did that there would probably be some sort of time paradox and we’d all be punished for messing with the space-time continuum or something.”
“Ok, well then why don’t you tell us who your dream was about so we don’t have that problem.” Adult Kojiro seemed ready to fight Kaoru’s teen self. Probably not the best action to take right now.
“Fine,” Teen Kaoru huffed, “I think the voice in my dream was talking about Adam.” His head gestured to the other man still standing near the car.
“Mine was about Joe,” Teen Adam said, haughtily.
“Which leaves me,” Adult Kaoru said looking over to teen Kojiro. He was curious about what the young man was supposed to tell him that he didn’t already know about his feelings. Teen Kojiro nodded. “Well, what are we waiting for? We should split up so we can’t hear the other conversations. You.” He pointed at Teen Kojiro who looked surprised at the harsh tone. “Come with me.”
Teen Kojiro was quick to get moving but paused before walking back to Kaoru’s younger version and whispering something to him. Teen Kaoru’s eyes flicked around the parking lot with furrowed eyebrows before he nodded as Kojiro pulled away. The teen then made his way over to adult Kaoru and looked at him expectantly.
Kaoru started off, walking toward the front of the diner and down to a hidden bench that was covered by trees and bushes. He sat down and patted the seat beside him for the teen to sit, which he did. They sat there for a beat, and then another, until Kojiro spoke up.
“You think they’ll be ok?” He asked with worry clear on his face. Typical Kojiro, not even thinking about himself, only his friend. Kaoru couldn’t help the slightly fond feeling the thought brought to his heart.
“You’re not worried about yourself? I’m practically a stranger to you.” Kaoru pulled out his fan and opened it, covering the bottom half of his face with it.
“Well, if my future self trusts you, and if you’re anything like my Kaoru, then you’re no threat to me. I don’t know about either Adam though, they’re both…unstable it seems. I just don’t want Kaoru, or myself, to get hurt.” He added the part about himself as an afterthought. Of course, he did.
“Kojir- You know how to deal with Adam, I’m sure you can tell that future you is able to handle himself fairly well, as for my past self, well I’m sure he’s already given Adam quite a few choice words, and it’s not like Adam would hurt me when Kojiro is less than 20 meters away.” Not after last time, he thought dryly.
Teen Kojiro took a second to think about it, before he closed his eyes, sighed, and nodded.
“Do you have any idea what you’re dream was talking about? It was somewhat vague with what you were supposed to do.”
“Well, I wasn’t too sure, I know the dream was about you, but I didn’t know what exactly it was talking about until– well– until I saw you.” Now what the hell does that mean? Kaoru raised an eyebrow as if urging the teen to continue. “You are very different from what I thought you would be, I’m sure that you know that already, but I think you also are worried that that’s a bad thing.”
“I’ll have you know that I am fine with who I turned out to be, I don’t regret trading the ripped jeans for my yukatas or kimonos,” Kaoru chided, he knew that that probably wasn’t what the teen was getting at, but it was much easier to defend his choices rather than look inward on why they always made him slightly self-conscious, especially around...
“I know you are, or at least you think you are, but I also know that you tend to be harsh on yourself, a lot harder than you are on anyone else. Despite what you always say about being independent, you always seem to fall back on pleasing others, which makes me think that when you changed up your style, it was to please the masses, but you didn’t get the opinion that mattered most, did you?” It was almost scary how well the teen could read him, but Kaoru supposed that’s what happens when you’ve known someone since you were five. It was hard to hear the deepest parts of his psyche be put on show like they were at one of his calligraphy showcases. Was it really necessary to call him out on his codependency like this? He was aware that he was clingy, but this made him sound like he couldn’t do anything without Kojiro’s opinion.
“You were off galavanting in Italy, how was I supposed to ask for permission.” He knew he was being a brat, but at this point, he didn’t have anything else to resort to.
“You never needed my permission to do anything, you know that. You also know that you’re the most important person in my life and when I made the life-changing decision to study in Italy after this year, I went to you for your opinion about it. When I did something big, you were always the first person to know.” The teen shifted on the bench to face Kaoru more, putting one leg up on the old wood.
Kaoru couldn’t help as his eyes blurred and he hid even further behind his fan. He thought about all the times Kojiro had informed him of something new in his life, from his first kiss to when he got his tattoo to coming out as bisexual, Kaoru was always the first to know, no matter how far away he was.
It wasn’t like Kaoru completely shut his friend out while he was away for culinary school, but it was very likely that he unintentionally was withdrawn emotionally, putting his all into his work and Carla. He wasn’t fully there. Not until Kojiro came back home.
“You...are the single most important person in my life, and you have been since I realized that you were the person who would always come back,” Kaoru spoke slowly, thinking about each word that he said, not wanting to say the wrong thing or hide behind his words. He was ready to face his past. “And I only realized it after Italy, which was also after my style change, so to speak. I didn’t realize that I needed to hear him– you– to say it was a good look.”
Kojiro took a moment to gather his thoughts.
“When I first saw you today, my first thought was ‘When did Kaoru start wearing his glasses?’ and my second thought was ‘Wow, he should do that more often’ because you look amazing.” Kojiro turned to look forward over to where the others were at the diner. His eyebrows were pinched together and a frown graced his lips. Kaoru felt the urge to press his fingertips to the young man’s forehead to remove the creases.
“Well, while that is a nice sentiment, I don’t fully understand how it explains-”
“I wasn’t finished.” Kojiro interrupted. “I was thinking about what I should say, what I want to say, and what you need to hear. I was going to say that I don’t care what you wear or how you act around the general public, because underneath all of that is the same, pink-haired menace that I’ve known since kindergarten, the same kid who refused to cut his hair in middle school as a way to “stick it to the man” in his own way, the same kind person who helped clean my cuts and bruises with the most gentle hands while he was also berating me for being an idiot when we were both figuring out how to stand on a skateboard properly, the same Kaoru I grew up with and want to grow old with. It’s all you. And it’s always been just you.”
Now, Kaoru knew that Kojiro was in love with him, he’s known since the man drunkenly confessed one night during Kaoru’s recovery from Adam’s Full Swing Kiss, it wasn’t the biggest confession, just a simple ‘I can’t lose you, not before I tell you how much I need you’ but Kaoru could read between the lines. He also knew that he was also in love with Kojiro, and even though he knew his feelings were reciprocated, he was still terrified about what might happen if they ever fell apart. If he lost Kojiro as a friend and a partner, he wouldn’t have anyone else to go to. So his reasoning for not confessing was pretty solid.
However, he had no idea just how long Kojiro had been in love with him, and judging by the way this 18-year-old version of his friend was talking, he was already aware of his feelings for Kaoru all the way back then, almost ten years ago. It made Kaoru feel guilty for not seeing it sooner, sympathetic for his friend who had been pining, most likely while he was with Adam, it must have been painful, Kaoru knew it was hard to watch Kojiro flirt with all the women, but at least he knew that none of the people he occasionally took to bed held a candle to Kaoru. In a way it was also thrilling to know that Kojiro, god’s gift to man, had been infatuated with him of all people for years.
Nothing could prepare him for the onslaught of emotions that crashed into him at that moment. It was as if he was suddenly facing down every single bad day or traumatic event all at the same time, tears welling up in his eyes as he let the fan drop from his face, his arms falling limp at his sides. He felt a smile tug at his lips as the tears began to fall.
“Oh god, are you ok?” Kojiro immediately started panicking, staring wide-eyed at Kaoru as he cried.
“I’m more than ok, Koji.” He turned to face the teen as soon as the tears stopped falling as much, smiling widely at the boy. He broke out in a soft chuckle before it turned into full-blown laughter, something similar to when he had watched Adam fall flat on his face during his race with Reki. Both now and then he felt so many emotions, but it mainly consisted of catharsis, joy, and relief. “You dumb ape, no matter what age we are you always did know just what to say to make everything seem brighter.”
“I don’t– I’m glad?” He stuttered out, definitely reeling from some form of emotional whiplash both from the insult and compliment, but also the range of emotions that Kaoru had just gone through. “Are you sure you’re ok?”
“I’ve never been more sure, thank you.” He said sincerely. He definitely had a long road to fully comprehending the fact that he could change almost every part of himself and Kojiro would love him all the same and would stay with him all the same. He placed his hand on the side of Kojiro’s face, looking into his eyes fondly. “You have no idea how much you’ve done for me, I just hope that I’m able to repay your kindness in both our times,”
“You already have, but I’m sure it’ll never be enough for you.” Kojiro grabbed the hand on his face and smiled back at Kaoru brightly. It was the same boyish smile he knew like the back of his hand, the kind that made a grandma pinch at your cheeks and the kind that made him a golden boy. His Kojiro had the same smile, though it was mostly used to charm restaurant patrons and women alike more nowadays rather than getting on parents’ good sides.
“Kojiro!” They both turned toward where the voice had come from, back near the diner. It was teen Kaoru who shouted it. He didn’t sound panicked or worried, which was good, but he was probably looking for his friend. Adult Kaoru wiped his eyes and stood up, holding out a hand to the teen beside him and pulling him up along with him.
“We should probably see if the others are done yet.” Teen Kojiro nodded and the two started back to the parking lot. They walked in silence. Contented.
Kaoru noticed that down on the other side of the parking lot, far enough away from the diner to not be heard, adult Kojiro and teen Adam were still deep in a conversation, Adam seemed to be either seething or sobbing, and Kaoru didn’t know which was worse for Kojiro. He watched as teen Kojiro and teen him met by the railing that overlooked the water. Teen Kojiro turned to look back at Kaoru and very obviously gestured to the adult Adam. Kaoru looked over to the adult Adam, who was standing with his back toward the parking lot, leaning on one of the beams holding the awning above them up. Just as he used to do when they were teens, only this time he had a cigarette between his lips.
Kaoru strode up to him and stood in front of him with his arms crossed. He raised an eyebrow at Adam once the man looked at him.
“What trauma did you inflict on my past self this time? Or did he read you to filth?” Kaoru asked, opening his fan and covering the bottom half of his face again. He was only speaking to the man so he wouldn’t leave and so he could attain just how bad the damage was that he had caused unto his younger self.
“Oh, do you truly think that lowly of me? After all we’ve been through?” He had the gall to sound offended, though how much of that offense was real was questionable.
“You lost my reverence when you left without so much as a goodbye, and then again when you sent me to the hospital. You should feel lucky that I’m even standing near you without any fanfare right now.” He snapped, narrowing his eyes at the man in front of him. “I’m only here to figure out if I should punch you or if I should let Kojiro do that.”
“No need to sick your guard dog on me, Cherry Bomb over there already threatened to do the same thing, so it has no real merit to it.” He scoffed and sucked in another breath of smoke from his portable lung cancer.
“No need for you to drag your weird pet-play thing into my relationship with Kojiro, we are our own people,” Kaoru fanned away the smoke that Adam attempted to blow into his face with a stoic face. “Just because you're too much of a coward to face me with any sense of seriousness doesn’t mean you get to demean him.”
Adam paused to watch Kaoru with no emotion behind his crimson eyes. It reminded Kaoru of when he used to think his eyes were like a fire, full of passion and warming him to the core, passion that he thought was for both skateboarding and himself. It wasn’t until the fire started to burn that he noticed how dangerous the man was. He didn’t care about Kaoru, he cared about being and beating the best of the best. His eyes were so much different from Kojiro’s. Where his were sharp, Kojiro’s were soft, where his cut deep, Kojiro’s caressed him lightly. If Adam’s eyes were a fire, Kojiro’s were a hot soup, warming him from the core and reminding him of home even on the coldest nights.
“Just as I thought, he was always above me in your mind,” Adam stated matter-of-factly as if he had known it since he was born. This confused Kaoru because he had practically been obsessed with Adam back in high school, he was devastated when he left. Did Adam forget that they had dated?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Of course you don’t,” He said, not elaborating or explaining what he meant. Kaoru went to protest but was interrupted by adult Kojiro and teen Adam walking back towards the group.
“Listen, Shindo, I don’t know what you think was going on between me and Kojiro back then, but whatever it is, it’s wrong. I may love him now, but I did not back then.” He hissed at Adam, snapping his fan shut and turning to walk away.
“Well then what changed?” The question gave Kaoru pause. What did change? What was the nail in the coffin that sealed Kaoru’s feelings for Kojiro? He shook his head to dislodge the thought, saving it for later when he had time to internalize it and wasn’t surrounded by people.
“Like that’s any of your concern.” He said and continued walking toward his Kojiro.
“Hey, you ok? You seem shell-shocked.” Of course, Kojiro noticed immediately.
“I’ll tell you later, first we need to get them back,” He nodded his head to the teens behind him. When he turned, he could see teen Adam leaning on a different poll than his adult version was but was staring intently at him, watching him smoke. He could also see teen Kojiro and Kaoru weren’t talking much, just watching the waves. Adult Kojiro walked over to the middle of where everyone was hanging out and started talking.
“Do any of you guys feel any different?” He asked.
“I feel more numb if that is anything to go by.” Teen Adam said with his arms over his chest.
“If that was all, then I’m leaving,” Adult Adam said and turned to head back to the car that had brought him and teen Kaoru. Adult Kojiro and Kaoru locked eyes before both rushing over to Adam to stop him.
“Woah, we can’t just leave them here!” Kojiro said as he grabbed Adam’s arm, stopping him from reaching the door handle.
“Well we don’t have any actual responsibility to them, they’re not even from this timeline.” He said, not turning to look at Kojiro.
“They’re us! Doesn’t matter that they’re from an alternate universe or parallel timeline! We owe them everything!” Kojiro’s voice was rising.
“Oh boohoo!”
“Uh...you guys-” One of the teens spoke up but was cut off.
“Of course, you’d abandon us yet again, where have I heard this one before?” Kaoru scoffed.
“Like I said, I didn’t have a choice, I-”
“You could’ve given us more time!” The three of them were close to yelling at this point. Then they heard it. Light knocks near the driver's window of the car. When they all looked at the person in the front seat, he only pointed back toward where the teens were.
They all turned just in time to see three clusters of what looked like different flower petals blowing in the wind that had picked up. The petals were lying in the spots where the three teens were, or well, where they had been just a few moments before. From what Kaoru could see, in the place of teen Kojiro were sunflower petals, where teen Adam had been was now covered by red roses, and his teen self seemed to have been turned into cherry blossoms. How fitting.
“They– they’re gone,” Kojiro stated dumbly, probably out of slight shock. Kaoru walked over to the petals decorating the ground, more specifically where his teen self and teen Kojiro had been standing. He noticed then that the petals had been mixed together. He couldn’t help but smile and think that the two of them would be ok. He turned to look at Kojiro. His Kojiro. Maybe he should take a leap of faith. He’s almost positive Kojiro would be there to catch him.
“Well, I’ll be off then if you would be so kind as to allow me to.” Adam made sure to over-emphasize the sarcasm in his voice at the last part. Kojiro stepped away from the car and let Adam go.
Once the car was gone, Kojiro sighed and turned back to Kaoru.
“Good riddance to him,” He said as he walked over to the railing, leaning against it in a similar way to how the younger version of him did, Kaoru assumed the same position.
“You can say that again.” They stood in silence for a few more minutes, Kaoru’s mind was trying to process everything that had happened in the past hour or so. He had only come out to the diner because Kojiro told him to meet him there, it was a shock to see, not an adult Kojiro, but the teen version of him watching the waves intensely. Kojiro’s initial message to him was probably about the teen version of Adam he had found. And of course, they had to do some sort of deep dive into their psyches in order for the teens to go home. Cause that makes perfect sense. As if anything today made a lick of sense.
And what could’ve possibly changed between him and Kojiro that made him fall in love? They had always been the same and nothing changed after Kojiro’s accidental confession, so when did Kaoru’s feelings shift?
Kojiro clicked his tongue.
“Sia?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
And that’s how Kaoru found himself at Sia La Luce, sipping at a glass of Moscato Rosa and resting his head in his hand. He was at his usual spot at the bar, Kojiro was standing behind the counter with his own drink set on top of the bar, he was currently preparing the final touches on some tiramisu for the two of them.
The silence gave him ample time to contemplate what changed between them that made Kaoru fall for Kojiro. He narrowed it down to something that happened in between when he got back from Italy and when he opened Sia, seeing as that was when he really started to notice his feelings, but it could’ve been something that happened while he was away. Maybe he was living, breathing proof that distance really does make the heart grow fonder. He remembers that the highlight of his week was always the Skype calls they would have on Fridays, the only day neither of them had any classes or any other commitments, it’s partially why he always found himself at Sia every Friday, but he found himself at Sia most days of the week.
He could also recall how there were nights when he would stay up way past an appropriate time to go to bed just to be able to text with his friend, even for just a few minutes before he passed out from exhaustion. So maybe it was before Kojiro left that Kaoru’s feelings changed. But that meant that it happened when Kaoru was still grieving his relationship with Adam.
Now that he thought about it though, Kojiro was right beside him as a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen whenever he needed, always there for him, and knowing when to comfort him or give advice or cheer him up. It was like a second nature to him. And Kaoru often found himself comparing how he was treated during that time to how Adam had treated him during their relationship…
He took a large sip of his rosé.
At this rate, Kaoru was going to finish his drink before he even got a bite of the tiramisu.
“Can’t you go any faster?” He asked.
“You can’t rush perfection, Princess, you of all people should know that,” Kojiro said without looking up from what he was doing. It made Kaoru roll his eyes. Of course, he knew how much care and effort was put into each piece of art ever made (unless it was made via AI in which case it didn’t count, AI art was a mockery of what AI is supposed to showcase) and of course Kojiro was also an artist in his own right.
It was only a few more moments before Kojiro smiled and picked up the dessert, bringing it around to the front of the bar and placing one plate in front of Kaoru, who was practically salivating at the sight of what he knew was utter decadence. As soon as he could, he grabbed his fork and stabbed the delicious treat. The second it hit his tongue and the flavor flooded his senses, Kaoru felt his shoulders drop slightly, tension melting away in an instant. He didn’t care that Kojiro was watching his reaction with a smug smile on his lips, all he cared about was this tiramisu.
“Like it?” Kojiro asked with a chuckle.
“You’d have to be the biggest bumbling buffoon to be seriously asking that, it's a good thing both of us know better than that.” Kaoru snapped back, not moving his eyes from off of the dessert. It was the easiest thing to slip into the normal banter they shared, but Kaoru knew he had a goal for tonight. “Yes.”
“Yes? Yes, what?” Kaoru couldn’t tell if Kojiro was egging him on or genuinely confused, but if he had to guess, he would say more confused.
“Yes, I like the tiramisu,” He explained, taking another bite and enjoying it as much as he enjoyed the first one. He could practically hear the cogs turning in Kojiro’s head as he processes the words Kaoru said.
“Oh, well...thank you,” He said. They sat in silence for a few moments before Kojiro spoke again. “You know, I think I care more about your opinion than I do about however the food turns out.”
“I know,” Kaoru said softly, unsure if Kojiro heard him or not when the other man kept talking.
“I don’t think I’ve ever cared about anything more.”
“I know,” He said, firmer this time, louder and more confident than before. Kaoru turned to look at the man next to him. Kojiro had a piece of tiramisu on his discarded fork, but other than that piece there were no bites taken out of the dessert. He had started messing with his fingers and Kaoru watched as he stared at the table in front of him.
“I– fuck Kaoru you don’t-”
“Kojiro.” Kaoru placed a hand on the other man’s cheek, turning his face to look at him. Kojiro’s eyes met his and he smiled softly. “I know.”
“Oh,” He breathed out, staring blankly at Kaoru, “You know?” Kaoru nodded. “How do you know?”
Kaoru looked down and sucked his cheek between his teeth.
“You told me, back when I was still recovering from…” He trailed off, not wanting to mention it right now. “You were drunk off your ass one night. You never said it directly but I inferred.”
Kojiro took a second to process the information, he might be trying to remember that night, but Kaoru knew he had no memories from it, if he did they would’ve done this a lot sooner.
“And is that ok?” Kojiro lifted his hand to gently wrap around Kaoru’s hand still on his cheek. Kaoru looked back up at the man who had the gall to look nervous, he smiled and took a deep breath.
“You truly are the biggest bumbling buffoon I’ve ever met,” He whispered before he pulled Kojiro’s face toward his. “It’s more than ok.”
Out of all of the places they could’ve had their first kiss, you would think an Italian restaurant would be one of the more romantic places, however considering it was also Kojiro’s place of work made it less traditionally romantic. Kaoru found it to be a very fitting place for this kind of thing. Kaoru didn’t care for the where or what of it, all he cared about was how perfect it felt to press his lips to Kojiro’s, how it felt like a homecoming after a long work trip. It washed over him and covered him head to toe in serenity. It set his nerves alight. It was the kind of kiss that could shift the whole world on its axis if it pleased.
Kaoru tilted his head and lifted his other hand to hold Kojiro’s face completely, wanting to feel as much of the man as possible. Kojiro seemed to have the same idea as he traveled his hand that was previously holding Kaoru’s hand down his arm and side before finding its place at his waist, his other hand reaching up to hold his wrist, thumbing at his pulse.
Kaoru was a fool for not giving in sooner and letting himself have this. An even bigger fool than Kojiro.
Speaking of which...
Kaoru pulled away from the kiss and whipped out his fan, smacking the hand that was on his waist with it.
“Ow! What was that for?” He ripped his hand away and rubbed at the back to soothe the sting.
“Since high school!?” He asked Slash demanded.
“Wha-? Oh. Uhm...yeah?” Kaoru saw the range of emotions that went through Kojiro at that moment. He didn't know what he could say.
“And you still haven’t said it directly to my face, makes me wonder if you actually mean it-” Kojiro cuts him off by grabbing both of his hands and pulling him in for another kiss, pulling away after a few seconds.
“I love you, so much, Kaoru,” He smirked at the shocked look on Kaoru’s face. He pressed another kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I’ve been in love with you,” Another one on his cheekbone, “since the day I saw you nail your first ollie,” One on his nose, “and I will continue to love you,” On his temple, “Until the day I die,” His forehead, “And then into the afterlife.”
Kaoru could only blink owlishly at Kojiro’s confession. He had been expecting him to say it, yes, but he wasn’t prepared for him to shower him with affection as he had. It wasn’t unwelcome though, in fact, Kaoru enjoyed it thoroughly. He could feel himself growing more and more greedy for Kojiro’s kisses and attention and affection.
“I love you too, Gorilla.” He smiled, leaning in again, knowing this wouldn’t be the last of them. Not by a long shot.
Kaoru couldn’t tell you the exact moment he fell in love with Kojiro, but he could give a million different reasons as to why it was inevitable that he did. He could go on for hours about how he could’ve done everything differently and he would still have ended up wrapped in Kojiro’s arms at the end of the day. And he wouldn’t have it any other way. And he knew that Kojiro felt exactly the same way.