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“It’s not like you to sleep in.”
Kaoru groaned loudly as Kojiro opened the blinds. When he got here, he wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t care enough to ask as he tugged the blankets over his head to protect himself from the light.
“It’s my day off,” his muffled reply came from under the covers.
The night before, he’d been at ‘S’ late, and when he got home well past midnight, he didn’t feel tired at all - which was odd. So, he curled up with a glass of wine and some random movie Carla picked out, hoping it would eventually lull him to sleep, or tire him enough that he could easily doze off in his bed. But it didn’t, and three hours and multiple glasses of wine later, he was still awake. He didn’t manage to get in bed until an hour before sunrise. Of course he wanted to sleep in.
“Hate to burst your bubble, princess, but we’ve got things to do.” Kaoru only groaned at the response before Kojiro continued. “The kids need a ride today and we offered to chaperone since Hiromi is working.”
“Mmph.”
Kojiro sighed, folding his arms over his chest. Sometimes he wondered why he was hopelessly in love with this man. Ever the stubborn one, and a drama queen, Kaoru didn’t move from below his blankets, his gentle, sleepy breathing evident as the fabric rose and fell subtly. And, god, Kojiro was smitten. He almost felt bad for what he was about to do.
“Okay, c’mon,” he said, and without warning, he scooped his arms underneath the other, lifting him off the bed, blanket and all. Well, the blanket started to come with him, but it flopped and dangled awkwardly, caught between Kojiro’s arms and Kaoru’s side.
The lift seemed to wake him enough, his eyes snapping open before scrunching shut, not used to the light yet. He squirmed in Kojiro’s arms, but not enough to actually be considered to put up a fight.
“Put me down, you buffoon!”
“Nap time is over, and I know you weren’t getting up on your own.”
“I am up .”
“Yeah, but you would’ve crawled right back into bed.”
Kaoru couldn’t even argue with that, just huffing and turning his head away from Korjio, who was wearing the most fond, infuriating smile.
“If I put you down, will you promise not to go back to bed?”
Kaoru just scowled further, and Kojiro would have done anything to be able to…
“I’ll let you keep the blanket on.”
Kaoru sighed dramatically.
“And I’ll make you coffee. And breakfast.”
A pause. Kaoru seemed to mull it over. But he’d already made up his mind.
“Fine. Now put me down.”
God , Kojiro could kiss him.
-
“Aren’t you coming in the water?” Langa chirped, his hair already dripping from Reki (who was snickering in the background) basically dunking him into the ocean.
“Pass,” Miya said, mouth full of ice cream as he mashed away at his game.
Kaoru simply hummed an acknowledgement, his eyes shut as he laid back in his beach chair, tucked safely away in the shade of his umbrella.
The boys clearly weren’t having it. Langa was very excited to finally go to the beach, and he wanted to spend time with everyone. Miya was fairly easy to coax out, surprisingly. A little bribery was all it took, and a challenge of course. No one was quite sure what Reki said to get him to move, but Miya’s eyes went huge before he hastily shoved his Switch away, barking a quick “screw you!” to Reki before taking a running start to the sea with a wicked grin on his face. The redhead was quick to follow, and Langa, after giving a disappointed look to Cherry, followed them as well.
The peace only lasted a few moments for Kaoru. He never cared for the sand or the water, he didn’t like it tracking and sticking everywhere. It was a pain. And he didn’t like the sun either, he burned far too easily, and it usually turned into a very uneven tan and skin damage. And sure, Kojiro knew this. But that wouldn’t stop him.
“Hey.” The voice broke through Kaoru’s rest, and he slowly peeked his eyes open to find Kojiro standing over him, adding an extra shadow. “C’mon, we’re at the beach, you have plenty of time to lounge around later. And don’t give me some excuse about getting fresh air or sunlight, you’re literally hiding from the sun.” Kaoru let out a long groan, grabbing his sandal next to him and throwing it at Kojiro. “Real mature.”
“Kojiro, please, you know I’ve never liked the ocean.”
“Yeah, but the kids are here and they want to spend time with you.”
Kaoru grumbled in response and shut his eyes, hoping Kojiro would just give up and leave him alone. Talk about wishful thinking.
The next thing he knew, he was being hoisted up over a broad shoulder, Kojiro holding his legs against his chest as he carried him, leaving Kaoru to punch at his back as he shouted at him.
“Kojiro, put me down right now ! This is not funny! Kojiro! ”
“Hey, kids, look who decided to join us!”
Kaoru couldn’t see them, but he heard loud cheers in the direction of the ocean, which they were rapidly approaching.
“Put me down !” he tried one more time.
“You got it, princess.”
He was way too willing to answer, which made Kaoru realize what was about to happen.
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Kaoru collided with the water with a loud splash! , his head dunking under only briefly before he sat up, the water stopping right at his chest. Kaoru spat out the salt water that made its way into his mouth before he looked up at Kojiro. That man must have a death wish. Honestly, he could just kill him right now.
Or kiss him.
-
Kaoru usually was very good at keeping his cool, especially in public. He was temperamental, sure, but he also always kept his public appearance very respectable. He’d learned over the years how to deal with even the most ignorant people (Kojiro unintentionally helped with this.)
But today, everything just seemed to be going horrible.
He and Kojiro were on vacation, so he was supposed to be completely stress free. He wanted to have a nice day out on the town, browse around shops and tourist locations, maybe even go out for a nice dinner. But everything seemed to be going wrong.
The night before, Carla’s charger stretched too far from the wall in the hotel room and got unplugged when Kaoru blindly placed her on the nightstand, so the bracelet died not even halfway through the day. Meaning they had no directions. But, it’s fine , Kojiro insisted, saying he knew the way, it shouldn’t be hard, we have our phones . But they had no service, and they got so terribly lost, and they’d been walking for hours around the city, and it was hot, and they were hungry, and as if it couldn’t get any worse, Kaoru’s hair tie snapped, so now the back of his neck was sweating.
Kojiro was glad he was able to remain so calm because Kaoru was clearly struggling to do so himself. They stopped by a convenient store, picking up new hair ties, and then they were on their way again.
“How about we find a place to sit and eat?” Kojiro suggested to Kaoru, who was pulling his hair back as they walked. The other simply hummed, a hair tie clamped between his teeth white he gathered up his hair. He supposed it wasn’t entirely smart as he wasn’t able to quickly dodge a large group of loud college students, smacking into one of them and causing their drink to splatter across his shirt.
And that seemed to be Kaoru’s last straw.
He whipped around, facing the group that seemed to be hurrying away.
“Excuse you!” he barked.
“Excuse you !” one of the kids spat back. “Watch where you’re going next time, moron!”
Kojiro barely had time to register the fact that Kaoru was marching towards them at first, but when he heard one of the students yell for him to back up, man! , he made a running start towards his friend.
God bless his strength - Kojiro was able to easily grab Kaoru by his middle just in time, leaving the shorter man to kick and swing at nothing while demanding to be put down this instant! Kojiro muttered out a hasty apology before turning in the opposite direction, only placing Kaoru back on his feet once he was positive he could block his path.
“Kojiro-”
“Enough. You need to calm down.”
“I-”
“Hey,” Kojiro said softly, putting a hand on Kaoru’s chest. “It’s okay. Let’s find a place and get you something to eat.
Kaoru fell quiet, all of his anger dissipating, smoldering to frustrated tears that welled up in his eyes and quick, heavy breaths. And Kojiro felt his heart drop at the barely there apology that left his lips. He was quiet, and Kojiro let him breathe for a moment as they stood to the side, allowing the crowd of the city to pass by. Finally, with a sniffle - Kojiro’s heart broke a little at that - he spoke up.
“My shirt…”
“Hey, no worries,” Kojiro said, and thank god for his outfit choice today. “I know you hate it, but it’s better than the wet one.” He shed off his top layer, a horrible Hawaiian shirt that Kaoru wanted to burn so badly, leaving him in just a plain t-shirt.
Kaoru wrinkled his nose, and he almost complained enough to go and buy a new shirt, but everything in the area was way too overpriced. He gently took the shirt from Kojiro’s grip and shimmied his way into it without having to fully rip his shirt off in public. Kojiro smiled gently.
He wished he could just kiss away those tears.
-
When they fought, it wasn’t ever really physical. Most of the time. But when it was, it was never serious. Most of the time. The most extreme it got always ended in giggles of some sort, or at least a little smile, so it was obvious it was never serious.
At ‘S’ one day, there was a little bit of down time. Kojiro and Kaoru were hanging around their usual crowd (the kids, plus Shadow), skating leisurely as they were chatting, bickering about little things here and there.
“You think I would die first?” Reki asked, shocked. “Really?”
“Dude, if the zombies are coming, I’m failing to see what you would do significant enough to save yourself,” Miya offered with a shrug.
“Well- I think Shadow would go first!”
“Man, I literally have the car.”
“But-”
“You would die protecting Langa, honestly.”
The redhead’s face flushed, his eyes huge as he scrambled for some kind of explanation, then scrambled to add on that no, Langa, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to save you! , and the discussion derailed.
Kojiro snickered a little, glancing to his side where Kaoru glided along next to him. Kaoru’s gaze shifted to meet the other’s eyes and he quirked an eyebrow, only his golden eyes visible due to the fitted mask.
“What’s so funny?”
“Just thinking-”
“Don’t hurt yourself.”
Kojiro scoffed, rolling his eyes.
“Watch it, pinky.”
And Kaoru wasn’t sure what it was, but he decided to push his buttons a little further.
“Or what?”
Kojiro took that as a challenge, and he knocked his board against Kaoru’s, who promptly gasped.
“Do not hit Carla!”
“You asked for it.”
Kaoru punched his arm. Hard.
“What the hell?!”
“Apologize!”
“ No!”
Kojiro swung his arm back to hit Kaoru, to which Kaoru bumped Kojiro’s board enough to make him fall. So naturally, Kojiro grabbed Kaoru, practically lifting him off the board, and dragged him down with him, with a shout from the pink haired male.
“Koji ro!” He squawked in pain as the both of them hit the ground, Kojiro’s arms wrapped around Kaoru’s middle so that he brought him down securely. Kaoru wriggled around until he was hovering over Kojiro, who was panting hard from the fall, and then punched him a few times in the chest. “You are an absolute moron!” he shouted.
But there was this stupid grin under his mask. And Kojiro wanted to just yank it down and kiss him.
-
“You’re more tired than usual,” Kojiro commented as Kaoru unlocked the front door clumsily. It had been a long day at work, clients being more stubborn than usual, work piling up, working overtime, and then of course, he still decided to attend ‘S’ on top of everything. All the coffee he’d had that day wasn’t doing its wonders anymore.
He didn’t bother giving Kojiro a proper response, shuffling sleepily into the house, the other in tow - Kojiro was trying not to make it obvious that he was ready to catch Kaoru since he looked like he could pass out at any minute.
“I’ll get us some water,” he decided, closing the door behind him and walking past Kaoru, who was still sloppily shuffling out of his shoes.
“I can get it, oaf, it’s my house-”
“And you look like you’re going to collapse at any minute. Sit, I’ll take care of it.” Of you.
Kaoru glared at him for a moment, but was obviously too tired to protest. His eyes already were feeling heavy, so he obliged and took a seat at the table, Kojiro joining him soon after with two glasses of water - cold, but without ice; he didn’t want to wake Kaoru up, just hydrate him.
Kaoru had let his eyes shut, blindly tugging at his hair tie, trying to free his head from the tight hairstyle. Clearly, though, in his sleep-drunk state, he was struggling. Kojiro couldn’t help himself when he laughed, causing Kaoru to open his eyes and glare at him, but it only made Kojiro laugh more.
“Here, let me help,” he offered, standing and circling around behind Kaoru’s chair, who began to protest ( don’t touch me, gorilla ), but there was no real bite to his words, and his eyebrows - which were knit tight on his brow bone - relaxed as he felt Kojiro gently move his hands and take over, working the hair tie out of his hair without pulling or tugging too much. And he could’ve just left it alone, but he went above and beyond. Just because he loved this idiot so much. Kojiro gently combed through his hair with his fingers, detangling it as much as possible.
“Can you…” Kaoru started before he clamped his mouth shut, his eyebrows back in their tense, pinched up state.
“Hm?” Kojiro hummed softly, continuing to just gather his hair loosely in his hands, not that he needed to anymore, but Kaoru had seemed so relaxed, it was melting Kojiro’s heart. “D’you need something, princess?” he teased lightly.
Kaoru’s face burned, and he decided he didn’t even have the energy to fight back. Kojiro fell quiet as he waited, and he could practically see the gears turning in Kaoru’s head just from the side view of his face he managed to get. There was a question sitting on the tip of his tongue, and he was debating the pros and cons of asking. It was kind of adorable to watch.
Kojiro guessed he decided against it, instead reaching behind him and clamping his hand open and shut a few times, grabbing at air until he got what he wanted. Kojiro raised an eyebrow as he watched. He almost made a comment about how he needed to use his words, but instead…
“The hair tie , idiot!” Kaoru snapped, yanking his hand back quickly before Kojiro got the chance to fully intertwine their fingers.
Worth a shot.
“Y’know, I could do it for you,” he offered, passing the hair tie over.
“Pass. I doubt you know how to braid hair.”
“How do you know?”
“Oh, please, just that response tells me you have no clue.”
He was right, but Kojiro would never admit it; he was stubborn. They both were. That was evident enough in Kaoru’s case as well - since it was obvious he wanted Kojiro to do his hair for him. And Kojiro would have. Anything to let Kaoru relax again, the way he had before. Anything to watch all his tension melt away, to have him fall asleep easier.
That seemed to be all the energy he had. As soon as his hair was back in a comfortably loose, but secure braid, his arms slumped into his lap and his eyes fluttered again.
“Tired?”
“Mm…”
“Okay, to bed you go, then!”
“Wh- Kojiro!”
And without another word, Kaoru was up in his arms, lazily clinging to his shirt as Kojiro carried the drowsy man to his bedroom. Kaoru mumbled something about how he hated him, wriggling in his arms a bit to prove a point. But there was no real struggle. He was very content with where he was. Even if he wouldn’t admit it.
Kojiro finally got him into his room, placing Kaoru down surprisingly gently on the bed (he was feeling generous today) and dimming the lights for him. Kaoru had fallen completely silent, watching Kojiro shuffle around the room as he tucked himself under the covers. He didn’t even get a chance to take off his glasses since Kojiro decided to do that for him. Good, too, because sleep had finally caught up to him and he was almost out.
“‘S it okay if I crash here tonight? Just don’t wanna drive home late,” Kojiro asked, keeping his voice down.
Kaoru hummed lightly as a response, trusting that Kojiro understood what he meant, and then he was finally buried in sleep, his back facing his friend. Kojiro smiled fondly, waiting for a moment before gently turning out of the room to take the couch.
All the while, Kaoru had been waiting for Kojiro to snuggle up next to him, and, in a perfect dream, maybe even kiss him goodnight.
-
The crack was sickening.
For a moment, it was all Kojiro could hear, echoing in his ears as we watched Kaoru’s body fly backwards, almost in slow motion, the contact of the board already damaging enough but he knew hitting the ground would only make it worse. And, fuck, it looked like Adam was grinning .
He didn’t know when the rest of the sound started flooding back in, but at that point he was already in a full run, pushing past everybody and shouting his way through the crowd until he was finally able to get to where he needed to be. And he almost didn’t want to be there. Because he didn’t want it to be real.
There was a pit in his stomach, and he felt like he was going to throw up just looking at him, but that was nothing to the pain Kaoru was in physically, and dammit, he knew it’d hurt even worse emotionally for him as well. Just the thought shattered his heart. He needed to be there. He needed to be there now.
His legs seemed to work again as he shoved past Adam - purposely making sure to knock into his shoulder as hard as he could - and immediately cradled Kaoru’s head off of the dirt, scanning his face worriedly. At that point, Kaoru’s eyes had fallen shut, desperately blocking the light, blocking Adam. Kojiro couldn’t blame him, but at the same time he couldn’t let him fall asleep.
It was disgusting how unphased Adam was. He thought this was boring . He thought Kaoru was boring? He was bored, so he was nearly killing people.
That thought made Kojiro’s throat close, and all his attention was back on Kaoru. Kojiro firmly cupped his face, shaking his body slightly. “C’mon, stay with me,” he choked out. Because there was this morbid, awful, disgusting thought in the back of his head that Kaoru was going to die.
No. No, he was going to be okay. He had to be okay.
Kojiro was about to grab Adam by his pathetic looking costume, using all that glitter to cover up his grotesque personality. He could feel his eyebrow twitch as he itched to stand up and tackle the son of a bitch to the ground, give him a taste of his own god damned medicine -
A honk sounded behind him, and Kojiro whipped his head around to see Hiromi frantically beckoning him to the car, saying something about how there was no time and he needed to hurry and - oh, fuck , Kaoru looked like shit. Kojiro was quick to scoop him into his arms, shouting at the crowd again to get out of the way, it’s an emergency, can’t you see he needs help? Move! And finally he piled into the back of the bright pink car. Kaoru was silent in his arms.
Oh.
Kaoru was silent.
It hit him suddenly that Kaoru did not complain, could not complain, when Kojiro picked him up. It was the first time ever he did not, could not say anything about being off his feet. He couldn’t complain, or call Kojiro names, or whack the back of his head and flail about. Kaoru was silent. Not a single protest, not a single insult, not a word. It took everything in him not to fully burst into tears as he screwed his eyes shut, forcing back the floods of panic as his breath hitched. He never thought he’d say he missed when Kaoru complained about being this close. God, he wished he would just wake up, wake up already!
Shaking, Kojiro leaned down and pressed a long kiss to Kaoru’s forehead.