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There was a muffled knock at the bathroom door, followed by Kai’s voice softly saying, “Hiro.”
Hiro tilted his head in the direction of the sounds, but didn’t say anything.
After a moment, there was another knock. “Hiro,” he repeated. “You didn’t fall asleep, did you?”
He hadn’t, despite how exhausted he felt. He sunk back down into the water a bit, which had cooled off considerably. How long had he been sitting in the bath, just staring at the wall? He lifted his hand from the water to look at his hand, his fingers all wrinkly. A while, he guessed, letting his hand drop back into the lukewarm water.
“If you’re not going to answer, I’m coming in,” he said, waiting a moment before he pushed the door open.
Hiro glanced up at him. Normally, he would’ve cared about being barged in on while he was in the bath, but if he was being honest, he really couldn’t find it in him to care right now. He must’ve looked worse for wear, judging by the way that Kai’s expression minutely shifted from something vaguely exasperated to something vaguely worried. It was hard to read Kai, but Hiro was getting better at it.
Kai crouched down in front of the bathtub, leveling himself with Hiro. “Are you alright?” he asked.
Hiro blinked wordlessly, staring at him. If he’d had any more tears left in him after bawling in the hallway and crying some more once he’d gotten in the bath, the question would’ve brought tears to his eyes. That didn’t stop his lip from quivering a bit, though.
Kai sighed. “I suppose that means you didn’t wash your hair, did you?”
He tore his gaze away from Kai, sinking further into the water.
“That’s a no, then.” He reached across the tub for the bottle of shampoo that they shared and adjusted his position, kneeling instead crouching. “Sit up, I’ll wash your hair.”
Hiro reluctantly did as he was told, his eyes sliding shut as he rose up from the water. He almost jumped out of his skin when water poured over his head without warning, but as soon as Kai’s hands touched his head he quickly relaxed into the feeling of him working the shampoo into a lather in his hair. It felt nice.
It felt nice to have Kai’s fingers gently scratch against his scalp, to have Kai do what he himself couldn’t bring himself to do. Like cook him dinner, and make sure he got a good night’s rest. Make him want to come home from work, day after day, instead of making a detour he might not live to regret.
He found himself welling up with tears again, one slipping down his cheek before he could stop it.
Kai paused the motion of his hands. “I thought you got all of that out in the hallway,” he said, more to the quietness of the room than Hiro himself. He pulled his hands back, wiping off the suds before he carefully wiped away Hiro’s tears.
“Kai,” Hiro said quietly as he stared up at him, sounding completely drained. “Thank you. For everything.”
Kai responded with a hum, taking back his hand after a moment. He washed the shampoo out of Hiro’s hair, making sure to smooth out every last bubble with his hand.
“There.” He sat back, starting to push himself up from the floor. “Change and come to bed.”
It was only then that Hiro realized that Kai was in his pajamas. He must’ve been waiting for him to finish up his bath to head to bed himself, before coming to check on him when he hadn’t left the bathroom.
Hiro’s hand shot out to grab Kai’s wrist, stopping him from getting too far. “Kai.”
Kai turned, looking down at Hiro’s hand. “Hm?”
“I want to…” he muttered softly, his eyebrows furrowed as his eyes darted back and forth. How could he tell Kai that was he thankful for him and what he was doing for him without wanting anything in return other than a place to stay? Simply saying thank you didn’t feel like enough. He’d be saying thank you to him for the rest of his life, if that was the case. “How do I…?”
Kai crouched back down. He opened his mouth to say something, only to be cut off by him as he lifted himself from the water and leaned over the edge of the tub to press a stilted and unsure kiss to Kai’s lips. Hiro pulled back almost immediately, sinking back into the water and hiding behind the edge of the tub like he wanted to disappear into the shallow water.
A small, fond smile spread across Kai’s lips. “Hiro.”
He cautiously looked over the edge of the tub, shielding the lower half of his face behind it. Kai reached out, gently brushing Hiro’s damp hair away from his forehead so he could press a chaste kiss to the newly exposed skin. A blush quickly spread across Hiro’s face, like he hadn’t been the one to kiss Kai in the first place.
“Come on, the water’s cold and you have work in the morning,” Kai said, actually standing up this time. “Or do you need me to dry you off and dress you, too?”
“I-I can do that perfectly fine, thank you,” Hiro quietly quipped from the safety of the other side of the tub.
A sly smirk slid onto Kai’s lips, replacing the fondness that had been there moments ago. “Suit yourself,” he said, and slipped out of the bathroom to give Hiro privacy.
Once the door was closed behind him, Hiro heaved out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.