"I'm glad Yuki-chan wanted to see me, but why did you want to see my room?"
Kuroda could feel his lower eyelid twitch ever so slightly. Ashikiba's confusion wasn't down to his dense nature this time around, surprisingly enough, but because Kuroda hadn't explained it to him.
"I just...do." He finished, awkwardly. A grin that could be described as impish if it didn't look so forced was plastered on his face. He didn't want to tell him, at least not yet. Not until he had a reason to get mad.
Ashikiba's perplexed expression didn't go unnoticed, but merely ignored. He shrugged with his grotesquely large shoulders and guaranteed he'd already forgotten why he was shrugging in the first place.
In the beginning, it hadn't taken long for Kuroda to become aggravated by Ashikiba's seemingly endless bouts of utter stupidity, and it wasn't as if Ashikiba was intellectually challenged (though that, too, was debatable) but the kid had absolutely no common sense.
At all.
And such a dense nature could be considered endearing if it wasn't so...ugh...
It was cute. That's all there was to say. Except it wasn't, because Kuroda would never submit himself to say that in a million years.
A ghost of a smile swept over his face. Maybe if he worded it in a complicated way, Ashikiba wouldn't understand. Maybe if he shouted it, it could be taken as an insult. Maybe if he'd convinced himself that the giant lumbering beside him wasn't cute, he wouldn't be subjected to internal turmoil.
Except he couldn't.
And as for the reason he had no less than demanded to see Ashikiba's room? Well, it was fairly simple. Ashikiba was a forgetful and slightly dim individual, who Kuroda, personally, wouldn't leave alone for too long. Of course, maybe he was being too harsh, but the undeniable truth was that the taller boy was beginning to...smell, slightly.
Kuroda may be short-tempered, but he wasn't about to berate Ashikiba in public about his lack of personal hygiene, if that was, indeed, the problem. He'd planned to take Ashikiba to one side and have a quick word, but thinking on it now, it wouldn't hurt to take a peek at his room. See if he was keeping up with his laundry and whatnot.
As Ashikiba fished around his pocket for his key, Kuroda mentally braced himself for whatever it was he was about to see, after all Ashikiba wasn't exactly the neatest person in the world, but the school dormitories did have its rules. Rubbish to be put in bins, bins to be taken out every week, laundry to be done, but there weren't dormitory checks so people could technically get away with being a bit sloppy.
Ashikiba fished the key out of his pocket with a triumphant grin (because only he could be proud of finding his key) and jammed it into the lock. Kuroda watched him struggle for a moment with internalised amusement. Watching Ashikiba struggle with normal-sized things was hugely entertaining to the 2nd year student.
"Ahh, stupid lock..." Kuroda could practically hear Ashikiba pout at this point as he jiggled the key around until the lock clicked, which was followed by another triumphant grunt. Was Ashikiba just proud of himself for functioning like a normal human being?
Kuroda shook his head with exasperation.
"Honestly, can you not open your door properly by now?" Kuroda chided, almost mockingly, as the door swung open. Ashikiba frowned slightly, thought not at Kuroda's words. His dark eyebrows furrowed as he chewed his lip. "I can, I can! It just gets stuck sometimes." He mumbled, and Kuroda had to look away because was he actually sulking about this?
Much to Kuroda's surprise, Ashikiba's room was tidier than he'd expected. Not perfect, of course, but tidier. There was a sizeable pile of clothes at one end of his fairly large bed that definitely did not look clean. His desk was littered with papers and pencils, several of which had been snapped. Kuroda stifled a chuckle because Ashikiba seemed to have an ongoing war with flimsy pencils. Just watching him try to curl his oversized hand around them was hilarious.
"It's tidier than I thought." Kuroda commented, offhandedly, merely because he had nothing else to say at that point. It was true, but Ashikiba frowned once more. "Yuki-chan thought my room was gonna be messy?" He tilted his head, slightly.
"What, did you tidy it just for me?" Kuroda raised an eyebrow, watching Ashikiba's red hair sway slightly as he shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Didn't know you were coming." He stated, firmly and Kuroda's heart melted ever so slightly.
"You should probably get those washed, though." Kuroda pointed out, glancing at the pile of clothes. Ashikiba shrugged nonchalantly. "I keep going to but the washing machines are too small."
"You...you haven't been trying to get all of them in one machine, have you?!" This could not be real. He knew Ashikiba was dense, but he couldn't be this stupid. It wasn't logical.
"Well, no..." He trailed, worryingly enough, as if he'd been contemplating the idea, or trying to play off the fact that he had attempted it, "...but you're not allowed to use more than one machine."
Kuroda sighed, like always. "Then just wash one batch of clothes. Don't leave them there to rot!" He scolded, and Ashikiba's eyebrows bolted upward. "Clothes rot that quickly? Like food?"
"No, Ashikiba, clothes do not rot like food does. I mean, it'll disintegrate over time, everything does, but it won't rot." He explained, exasperated that he'd even have to explain such a thing, but he looked so surprised...
"How long would it take for my clothes to rot then?" He asked, a childish smile plastered onto his face. Kuroda raised an eyebrow. "Like, years and years. I'm talking centuries or something. Wait, wait- that's not what I'm here for."
"You're not here to tell me how long it'll take for my clothes to rot?" Judging by Ashikiba's smirk, Kuroda would've guessed that he was his way of teasing him. It was a feeble attempt.
"Of course not." Kuroda clucked his tongue, "I needed to talk to you. In private."
Kuroda felt mildly horrified when Ashikiba's face lit up. Undoubtedly his mind had gone down a different route, but just what was he thinking of? He genuinely looked happy about this! This was going to be painful...
"I needed to talk to Yuki-chan in private too!" He sang.
Oh good god why. Kuroda felt a lump in his throat as his mind raced through the countless possibilities.
"Uh...that's great, Ashikiba. We're killing two birds with one stone, then." He smiled, awkwardly. As expected, Ashikiba looked momentarily horrified. "Why're we killing birds?! Is that what you came here for?" He yelled, accusingly. Kuroda's anxiety dissipated instantly. Of course a well-known phrase would fly straight over the giant's head.
"I knew that would fly straight over your head." Kuroda voiced, monotonously. Ashikiba frowned. "It wouldn't fly over my head, because it'll be dead." He said, lowly.
Ah, of course. Still on birds.
"I wasn't talking about the birds. We're not killing any birds." Kuroda stated, firmly. Ashikiba looked doubtful, but nodded anyway. "Okay, good. You shouldn't kill birds unless you're going to eat them after."
Like that made it any better?!
Kuroda shook his mind of the scathing commentary. He had a task to do. Ashikiba couldn't keep turning up to practice smelling like a sewer, it was bad for everybody. There was no excuse for not washing properly and not doing laundry properly, either.
"Ashikiba." Kuroda barked, suddenly. Ashikiba stood to attention. It was now or never.
"Ashikiba," His voice broke off slightly here, "...you've been turning up to practice in a manner unfitting of the cycling club." Oddly professional, but that was the reasoning behind it. As expected, Ashikiba's face fell slightly. "...unfitting? How?"
Kuroda sighed. "You smell. Bad."
Ashikiba's eyes widened a fraction, and Kuroda inwardly winced. Save it, save it, say something!
"I see this may be because of your inability to wash your clothes...but you've been turning up to practice smelling really bad. You do shower after practice, don't you?" He tested, but Ashikiba looked oddly vacant. His head dropped slightly, clearly dismayed.
Kuroda closed his eyes with a grunt, but his voice became softer. "Look, I'm not mad at you or anything, but Touichirou noticed and Manami noticed and none of us wanted to bring it up in front of the others, so I thought I'd just point it out in private, okay?"
He was met by silence, which was fair enough, but the sudden sound of sniffling caught him off-guard. His eyes snapped open as he looked up at the giant before him.
He had his long fingers covering his face, pushing the slightly wet strands of hair from his face. He was crying.
Kuroda's mind went into overdrive. He'd made a boy who was a head and a half taller than he was, cry. The light sniffling turning into soft sobbing and Kuroda felt a stab of guilt in his gut. It was nothing. It was probably a kidney stone. And not the fact he'd literally made Ashikiba cry.
The sudden realisation of that sunk in. Maybe there was a reason why Ashikiba wasn't keeping up with his personal hygiene. Maybe he should've asked first? Why was he feeling guilty about this? He had every right to confront Ashikiba about this.
But he hadn't meant to make him cry. Damn it.
"A-Ashikiba." He croaked, awkwardly, "I wasn't trying to be mean. Really, we're just a little worried is all." Well it was the half truth. Anybody who couldn't keep up with their hygiene rituals was a cause for concern, but the other half would be that the lack of hygiene was unfitting for club members, and captain Izumida, despite how sweet he was, couldn't have that.
Nonetheless, Ashikiba continue to sob into his oversized hands. Kuroda winced, slightly, despite feeling annoyed by Ashikiba's crybaby nature, but it was technically his fault he was crying.
"Y-Yuki-chaaaan..." He bawled. "I-It's...not..." He sniffled, wiping his eyes, which at this point, was futile. Fat tears ran down his cheeks and Kuroda half-expected the heart-shaped birthmark on his cheek to suddenly smear across his face. He smiled.
"Hey, Ashikiba, stop crying, okay? Otherwise you'll wash your birthmark off."
Ashikiba paused with a hiccup, looking confused. "Y-Yuki-chan *hic* I told you, it doesn't come off!" He insisted, firmly, and Kuroda chuckled breathily. "Well, you never know, it might do if you keep crying." He told him, because seriously, he couldn't stand crying and if Ashikiba was going to keep this up, Kuroda couldn't guarantee he'd keep this up.
That was enough to make Ashikiba hold his breath, as if that was going to stop his tears altogether. He nodded, lifting his head high and doing his best to look strong but instead he just looked like he was pouting.
"Now, without bursting into tears..." that was enough to make Ashikiba's bottom lip tremble, "...will you explain to me why you've been skipping out on washing?"
Luckily, the giant stood strong and held back the tears. "I-I...Yuki-chan thinks I'm gross, doesn't he...?" He whined, and Kuroda rolled his eyes. "No, Ashikiba, I don't think you're gross, I just want to know why."
Ashikiba hung his head ruefully. "I...it's not my fault. It's the showers fault."
Oh, so it was his fault? Should've known it was that jammy bastard. Can't trust 'em.
The sarcastic commentary trailed off in Kuroda's head and he held back a smile because it was just like Ashikiba to blame an inanimate object like it was a human being.
"I doubt the shower has a personal vendetta against you." Kuroda said, flatly, but Ashikiba shook his head. "No, no the shower wasn't doing it on purpose..." because a shower could absolutely do that on purpose, "...it's just...*sniff*"
The tears were threatening to fall again and Kuroda's patience was wearing thin. Luckily, even Ashikiba could tell, so the giant reached out and took the silver-haired boy's hand and led him towards the bathroom as if he were a child.
It was a tiny, tiny bathroom, with a toilet in one corner (seat left up), a sink next to it (toothpaste-stained) and a shower in the opposite corner, which Ashikiba approached and...
...ah...
Kuroda could see the problem.
Ashikiba was at least half a head taller than the shower head, meaning he'd have to bend over, and even then he wouldn't be able to fit into the tiny cubicle without his ass sticking out.
Ashikiba...bending over...
Kuroda snorted slightly, his hand whipped up to cover his mouth. Bad thoughts, Yukinari, bad thoughts.
The tears were threatening a return once more, as Ashikiba stood up. Kuroda sighed, because, fair enough, that was a decent excuse to skip out on showering. Nobody wanted a backache every time they tried to wash.
"A-and the public baths are three miles away! Yuki-chan, I can't go all that way every time I need a shower!" Kuroda resisted the urge to ask why he couldn't just cycle. "That's fair enough, then. But that doesn't solve the immediate problem." He gestured to Ashikiba in general, and he nodded, tearfully.
"Yuki-chan, can I use your shower?"
"How the hell would that help, stupid?" Kuroda barked, and Ashikiba giggled.
"Maybe it's bigger than mine." He suggested, but Kuroda didn't look remotely impressed. "Of course it hasn't dawned on you that we have the same bathrooms."
"Eh? No, we don't! Yuki-chan has his bathroom and I have mine!"
It was like talking to a six foot seven brick wall.
"Look, why don't we head down to the shared dormitories? If you ask them nicely and explain the situation, I'm sure they'll let you use their bathroom."
The shared dormitories, usually occupied by underclassmen, was on the other side of the school building, but at least it wasn't three miles away. Usually Ashikiba wouldn't have minded sharing a dormitory, but none of the beds in the multi-bed dorms were big enough for him, so he'd moved into an old upperclassman's single bed dorm with a bed big enough for him to fit. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for the bathroom.
Ashikiba nodded uncertainly, reaching out to grasp at Kuroda's sleeve. "Yuki-chan has to come too, though." He said softly, but defiantly. Kuroda rolled his eyes with a sigh of exasperation.
"Fine." He snapped, before making a beeline for the door, Ashikiba in tow.
"By the way..." Kuroda began as he tugged the giant down the hallway in the direction of the multi-bed dorms. Ashikiba tilted his head, cutely. "Mm...?"
"...what did you want to talk to me about? You mentioned something earlier?" He glanced back at the oversized child who was clinging to his sleeve. Ashikiba looked suddenly alarmed, as if he'd forgotten, before sinking down into his large school shirt, looking flushed.
"It's nothin'..." He mumbled, behind his hand. Kuroda glanced at him, questioningly, but remained silent. He may be an airhead, but Ashikiba had a horribly stubborn streak, like a small child. Or a large child.
A six foot seven child.
But, unfortunately, Kuroda possessed a similar streak, though inherently more aggressive than Ashikiba.
"You're a terrible liar." Kuroda muttered, lowly, causing Ashikiba to visibly flinch. He recoiled slightly, hiding his face behind one of his hands. He was so painfully transparent, it wasn't even funny. If Kuroda's already stunted patience wasn't wearing thin before, it absolutely was now.
"That's mean, Yuki-chan. I'm not a liar." He frowned, defensively. He was playing the victim card to escape telling Kuroda what he'd planned to tell him before. Damn it, he should've let him speak first. Maybe then, he wouldn't be dragging the oversized child to the multi-dorm showers.
"Neither am I. You were going to tell me something earlier and now you're not telling me what it was and I can tell it means something to you because you look like a tomato." He said, glancing at Ashikiba's red cheeks.
Ashikiba looked positively offended. "Eh? You look like a tomato, Yuki-chan!" He retorted, aggressively, or as aggressive as Ashikiba could be. Kuroda rolled his eyes, "It was a figure of speech, but I can see that one went over your head as well." He grunted.
"What is it with you throwing things over my head today? Are you going back into baseball?" He almost looked dismayed by his own suggestion, but Kuroda was too exasperated by his lack of...well, everything.
"Don't change the subject, Ashikiba." Kuroda scolded him, and Ashikiba bowed his head apologetically, like a child being told off by a parent. "Sorry..." He mumbled, weakly, before walking straight into Kuroda's back with a yelp.
"Idiot, pay attention to where you're going!" He scolded, again. Ashikiba sighed, now becoming rather bored of being told off.
Kuroda cracked open the double doors in front of them, which led out into a spacious multi-bed dorm shared by their underclassmen. There must've been about twenty to thirty beds, both single and bunks, lined up against the walls, with an equally spacious bathroom behind the door at the back.
A few underclassmen perked up upon seeing Kuroda and what was essentially Goliath's arrival. There were only about two or three faces Kuroda recognised from the cycling club, all of which dashed to meet them with questioning looks on their faces.
"Ah! Kuroda-san! Ashikiba-san! What brings you here?" They greeted, brightly. Kuroda waved his hand dismissively, in a fashion similar to Arakita. "Long story short, Ashikiba is too tall for the shower in his bathroom. Can he use your bathroom to wash?" Ashikiba tugged at his sleeve with a mortified squeak.
"Yuki-chan! That's embarrassing, don't tell people!" He whined, only to be ignored by the shorter boy.
The underclassmen looked momentarily surprised, before breaking out into a grin, clearly willing to help their upperclassmen. "Of course! It's pretty big in there, and even if he can't fit under the shower, there are stools to sit down on! Go right on ahead, Ashikiba-san!"
Ashikiba flushed, trying his best to hide behind Kuroda without actually looking like he was trying to hide behind Kuroda. Kuroda tilted his head to the side, glancing up at Ashikiba. "Well? Go on, then."
Ashikiba looked somewhat displeased, but that expression changed into something more downcast.
"I forgot my towel..." He admitted, softly. Kuroda sagged slightly, rolling his eyes with a clearly exaggerated sigh. How could somebody be this scatter-brained? Ashikiba was truly a human phenomenon.
"Then why don't you hop in the shower, wash properly..." He enunciated the word with enough force to make Ashikiba understand that being lazy with it would have it's consequences, "...and I'll go grab you a towel."
It seemed to take longer than necessary for the offer to register in Ashikiba's mind, but his face broke out in a bright smile, as he fished his key out of his pocket and thrust it into Kuroda's hand.
"Thank you, Yuki-chan! I keep my towels in the bottom drawer of my desk, okay?"
Kuroda...wasn't going to ask. Ashikiba was undeniably, the oddest person he had ever met. Still, he sounded so happy. Kuroda flushed, whirling around and stomping out of the door, leaving Ashikiba to get into the shower.
Kuroda was surprised. Ashikiba really wasn't lying about the door. He rattled the doorknob irritably, before giving it the finger in a manner least helpful.
"Oh, for fuck's sake." Kuroda growled, through his teeth, giving the doorknob one more forceful shake, only for it to swing open. It wasn't as satisfying as he would've liked.
Now, let's see. Kuroda made a beeline for Ashikiba's less that tidy desk. He stared at the crumpled pieces of paper pushed not-so-subtly behind a large pen-pot. Whatever, it wasn't like it was any of his business. He bent down and pulled open the bottom drawer. Lo and behold, a pile of towels. Seriously, why'd he put them here?
He kicked the drawer back in and turned to leave, but...
...
It was incredibly tempting. He knew it was disrespectful to go through anybody's belongings but why had Ashikiba clearly attempted to hide these papers? Ashikiba rarely had anything to hide to begin with, he wasn't that kind of person, so...
Kuroda panicked slightly. Ashikiba had been a bit quiet during recent club practices, come to think of it. He wasn't planning to resign was he? Kuroda could've have that. Why, he didn't know. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know, either.
But in his mind, he'd given himself a reason to look at them.
He tugged out one of the balls of paper from behind the pen-pot and opened it up. It was covered in scribbled out words, which Kuroda would have no problem believing was his actual handwriting, but Ashikiba had clearly scribbled out these words and half-sentences with frustration.
Mm...well, the first letter was clearly a 'Y' but the rest was illegible.
Y-...I...-ting...-ke...y- and that's where the first line ended. Underneath were several variations of the line above, all scribbled out with the same lines of frustration. Was Ashikiba writing a letter to somebody? That was pretty brave of him.
Kuroda scoffed openly, crumpling it back up and slotting it back behind the pen-pot before fishing out another ball. This one was a little more legible than the last and part of Kuroda wished it wasn't, because the very first line was unmistakably, and in Ashikiba's godawful handwriting...
'Yuki-chan'
Ashikiba was writing to him. That didn't make any sense, why was Ashikiba writing to him when he could talk to him face to face. Unless...this was regarding what Ashikiba had tried to tell him earlier. This was obviously important because Ashikiba hated writing anything that wasn't music. His musical penmanship was flawless, but his literary penmanship clearly left something to be desired.
A massive portion of the letter had, again, been scribbled out.
'I d- ...-ell y-...li-...-u!' The exclamation mark was an odd part of the letter. He couldn't imagine Ashikiba writing a cheerful letter, or a normal letter for that matter. Ah, maybe he was being too harsh on him.
But his this had definitely peaked his curiosity. Why was Ashikiba writing to him?
Kuroda contemplated taking the paper and openly confronting Ashikiba about it but the last time he'd confronted the giant about something (no more than fifteen minutes ago) it hadn't ended all too well.
But on the other hand, Ashikiba was outwardly refusing to tell him whatever it was that was now clearly linked with this paper and Kuroda had little patience for things like this. This was stupid, there were so many factors to consider and too many lines of action to take for his liking. Well, in that case, there was only one way to go from here, and that was to trust his gut.
And his gut was telling him to take the paper to Ashikiba.
Speaking of Ashikiba, Kuroda remembered he was still holding the towel he was meant to deliver to him. It hadn't been too long and if Ashikiba was doing as he said, he'd still be scrubbing down. Kuroda promptly pocketed the paper and left hastily.
He ignored the fact that his legs were in a rush to return to the underclassmen dorms as his mind focused purely on the paper in his pocket. An uneasy sense of pressure was weighing down on him and the paper felt like it was burning a hole through his pocket. He was now certain this wasn't a good idea.
He strode through the doors of the underclassmen dorms, not even glancing at any of them, as he made his way straight to the bathroom as if it were a do or die moment.
The bathroom was, to his relief, full of steam clouds. The shower room before him had a tiled wall in the center, with openings on either side, behind which Kuroda assumed were a wall of showers.
"Ashikiba." Kuroda said, oddly strangled by his words. It took three seconds before Ashikiba popped his head over the wall separating the two, beaming.
"Yuki-chan!" He practically giggled and Kuroda felt something in his stomach drop because this boy was not cute at all, not a bit, nope, nu-uh, never. Ever, ever.
Ah, fuck.
"Did you find my towels?" He asked, and Kuroda squinted up at him, raising the towel in his arms with a 'are you fucking kidding me' look. Ashikiba nodded, proudly.
"Good, good. I'm nearly done!" He grinned, as if maintaining personal hygiene was something to be proud of. Kuroda raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"
"Yeah!" He chirped.
"You washed your hair?"
"Duh." He raised a dripping lock of hair, still half-covered in suds.
"You washed your armpits?"
He raised his arms. "Mm-hm! You can smell if you want."
"Uh, no. You wash down there?"
"Don't be gross, Yuki-chan!" Ashikiba squealed and Kuroda could tell he was covering himself behind the cover of the wall. Kuroda rolled his eyes. "Not washing down there is more gross than somebody asking about it." In all honesty, that last one was more of a joke than the rest, but still...
"Good. I got a question for you." Now or never, he guessed. Ashikiba raised a dark eyebrow. "Mm?"
Well shit that noise was cuter than Kuroda would've expected, but he persevered. He retrieved the ball from his pocket and flashed it at Ashikiba.
"Were you writing a letter to me?"
Ashikiba's face froze into shock and Kuroda immediately regretted his decision because obviously this wasn't the way to go and he'd internally used the excuse of a gut feeling to do what he wanted to do, which was confront Ashikiba.
Ashikiba frowned, but it was much more sorrowful that normal. There was no childishness to it. He was upset.
"Yuki-chan, you shouldn't look through people's stuff." He said, flatly. Kuroda shrugged, because what else could he do. He looked down at the paper in his hands. "You left it out on your desk."
"No I didn't." Ashikiba said, firmly, "I know I didn't. I may be kinda stupid, but I know what I do. You shouldn't lie to people like that."
Kuroda could handle being reprimanded for lying, because in all honesty, he hadn't much to lie about in the first place, but when it was Ashikiba, who not only had admitted to being stupid, but who had now become suddenly serious it felt like a shard of ice to the heart. Fuck.
"I apologise." He said, stiffly, fingers clenching around the paper. There was nothing else to say. Kuroda knew this was a bad idea, so why did he do it? When he forced himself to look up, Ashikiba had disappeared.
Silence, for longer than Kuroda would've liked.
"Ashikiba."
"..."
"You aren't stupid." Kuroda murmured so quietly, he doubted Ashikiba could've heard him over the noise of the shower. He was surprised when Ashikiba responded.
"How would I know?" He shot back, icily, "Yu...you tease me all the time." His voice was dropping lower in pitch and Kuroda felt a twinge of something in his chest because Ashikiba had clearly meant to say 'Yuki-chan' but refrained. That hurt more than Kuroda would've liked.
"I really don't believe you're stupid. You're a little dense from time to time, but not stupid." A little dense was a bit of an understatement, but Ashikiba wasn't academically an idiot. He had gotten into Hakone, after all.
"You're just saying that." Ashikiba retorted and Kuroda ground his teeth because somehow he'd forgotten about Ashikiba's mile-long stubborn streak, but he also felt weak inside because Ashikiba had clearly noticed Kuroda's offhanded remarks about his intelligence and had merely shrugged them off in the past.
Kuroda had been nagging Ashikiba to be less oblivious and, ironically, it had worked against his favour. Fuck.
"Ashikiba, I'm sorry, okay?" Kuroda felt his cheek twitch ever so slightly, "I really don't think you're stupid." Yes he is, he's stupid because he's sulking under the shower and refusing to accept what he's saying, but really, whose fault is that?
"I wanted to know what you wanted to tell me earlier, because it clearly was important to you and when I found this..." He trailed off. He probably shouldn't open the paper, because the steam would dampen it.
"I know you don't like writing letters, so when I saw it, I was...afraid you were leaving the club." Kuroda admitted, but part of him felt like he was lying. It was a perfectly legitimate fear, but it didn't feel like the reason. Why was that?
"Why would I do that?" Ashikiba's voice was a bit too soft to snap at him effectively; instead, he sounded bitter and upset. Who could blame him.
"I don't know? I just got scared for a second, 'cause...I really like riding with you?" Kuroda shrugged to himself. Who was he kidding?
The room was bathed in silence again, until...
...suddenly, Ashikiba started to bawl rather loudly, louder than Kuroda had ever heard and he felt something inside him snap in two. His heart, or his sanity. He dropped the towel on the floor without hesitation and rounded the wall, where Ashikiba was sitting hunched over on a tiny stool, head between his knees as he sobbed.
He darted forward, and put both of his arms around the giant, because he'd had enough of Ashikiba's crying for one day, and not because it was annoying, but because it was actually heart-wrenching to see such a laid-back individual break down. It would be like watching Manami break down, but Manami could be an insufferable little shit sometimes.
To his internal delight, Ashikiba wrapped his long arms around Kuroda's waist and sobbed into his shirt, which he now realised was soaking wet. In fact, he was totally drenched because he had walked straight under the stream of water to comfort Ashikiba, which was probably one of the more stupid things he'd done.
Ah, whatever, it was worth it.
He snaked his arms around Ashikiba's neck and held him closely because it didn't matter how standoffish he was, or how embarrassing this was, or how completely unnecessary this was, it was an opportunity that he wasn't passing up. His pride had gone down the drain along with Ashikiba's lingering body odor and for both, he was thankful.
"Y-Yuki-chaaaan...!" He cried into Kuroda's chest dramatically and Kuroda sighed, fondly. "Ashikiba, it's okay. I'm sorry for calling you stupid." He apologised, because for some reason, he couldn't find the heart to get mad. Of course he knew why. He'd known the whole time.
"Ashikiba..." Kuroda ruffled his hair slightly, "...will you tell me what you were going to tell me earlier...?" He looked down at the taller boy who still had his face pressed into Kuroda's chest.
"...Ih ihe ou..."
Kuroda sighed, now back to the exasperation, because if he seriously continued acting soppy, he might as well melt into a puddle and go down the drain along with his pride.
"Try again, this time without a mouthful of my shirt." Kuroda teased, and Ashikiba reluctantly pulled away, face reddened but whether or not it was the steam from the shower or some other reason, he didn't know.
"Yuki-chan..." Ashikiba was practically pouting at this point, looking up at Kuroda, which made him feel oddly dizzy because looking down at the giant was a surreal experience in itself.
"I like you! Yuki-chan!" He blurted, noisily. Kuroda choked on whatever was crawling up his throat as he stared at Ashikiba who was not only clinging onto him like a toddler, but who was also completely naked. Starkers. Free-balling.
Now Kuroda was obviously, totally and completely utterly comfortable with his masculinity...
...oh fuck it, what was the point.
He leant down and pressed a damp kiss to Ashikiba's oddly dry lips. He could hear Ashikiba's muffled squeak from underneath his lips. Not only had his pride slipped down the drain, but so had his dignity, his self-respect and heterosexuality.
Maybe Ashikiba could help restore what he had shed this evening. Minus the heterosexuality, of course...
Kuroda drew back and he swore he could see shooting stars in the musicians eyes. He'd seen him happy before, playing the piano, climbing on his bike and staring at clouds, but this was far different. It was adoration.
Kuroda flushed suddenly and recoiled, because now he wasn't sure what to think. He thought he'd had himself figured out, but apparently not? He'd have to start from scratch.
But Ashikiba's wide, sparkling eyes and upturned lips were enough to make it worth it.
"Yuki-chan! I can't believe you dropped my towel! Now you're the dense one!" He said, slyly, clearly as a form of revenge for earlier. Kuroda sighed, but took it in stride, because really, Ashikiba deserved a few free hits.
"I'm dense? Ashikiba, you've been standing there in damp clothes for about ten minutes now. Are you going to change, or are you going to catch a cold?"
Ashikiba seriously mulled that thought over for reasons Kuroda couldn't imagine until he opened his mouth.
"Depends. Will Yuki-chan be around to take care of me if I do get sick?" He asked, hopefully. Kuroda looked briefly surprised, before slapping Ashikiba lightly on the shoulder (it was as high as he could reach).
"You idiot, don't get sick just because you want me to take care of you! It's not worth it." Kuroda chided, resisting to let the corners of his lips turn upwards out of sheer will and sheer embarrassment.
"It is worth it! Yuki-chan will have to take care of me!" Ashikiba sighed, almost dreamily, at whatever vision he was concocting in his frazzled brain. Kuroda rolled his eyes, and reluctantly opened his mouth.
"If you want me to look after you, just tell me, okay? It's less hassle than you getting ill."
Ashikiba contemplated that for a moment, before nodding. "That sounds okay...but what if I really do get ill?!" He sounded alarmed. Kuroda exhaled softly.
"Then I'd take care of you." He said, softly. Ashikiba looked pleased beyond words. "Yeah, yeah! Yuki-chan makes a good boyfriend!"
"H-Huh? Don't say stupid shit like that!"
"Eh...? What did I say?"