Summary: Kuroba Kaito says many things as a joke. This, however, isn't one of them. Hakuba Saguru isn't very quick to catch on. /HakuKai/

GA: Gratuitous HakuKai because I hate myself. It's pretty short, but I hope you still like it.

Enjoy!

SAY YES

"Excuse me?" There was something wrong with the words coming out of Kuroba's mouth. Something very, very inherently wrong, and even as Hakuba leaned against the side of the school building, the British genius couldn't for the life figure out why he was saying them. "Can you repeat what you just said?"

Kuroba scowled slightly, shifting from leg to leg even as fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. "What, are you deaf? I said I like you, so go out with me!" And there were those words, those impossible words because there was no way in hell Kuroba would say anything like that to him of his own accord. "Is it that hard to understand?"

"Yes," Hakuba's reply was clipped, as he clenched his jaw irritatedly. "Who set you up to this? I doubt Aoko-kun or Akako-kun would be so cruel. Was it that second year you've been consorting with? I know he-"

"It wasn't anybody!" The glare on Kuroba's face failed to decrease at all, even as his eye flickered to Hakuba's face for a split second before looking away. "Is it so hard to believe?"

Frankly, yes it was, but he didn't bother voicing what he assumed to be the obvious answer. It wasn't as though he hadn't hoped for this moment to come, it was just that...well, he had hoped for this moment to come. It was far too good to be true, considering the fact that he had unwillingly placed his affections in a prankster-thief-magician, the worst possible triad known to mankind. There was some catch, some kind of trick or trap waiting at the end of this surprisingly light and fluffy tunnel.

"You..." Kuroba spoke up sharply before backing off slightly. "I get it. That's fine." He still wouldn't look Hakuba in the eye, and his stomach clenched slightly. It was obviously because he was lying, there was no other explanation, but he did look hurt, which hurt Hakuba in turn. "I'm just a nuisance, right? Yeah, whatever, I guess."

"Kuroba." It was once more Hakuba's time to be short with the other. "Are you an absolute idiot? This is by far the most asinine attempt at humor you've ever tried. I wasn't born yesterday."

"I-"

He cut Kuroba off before he could get a word in. "However you found out about my- my feelings for you," he spat it out before he could regret the decision, "that did not give you the right to use it against me."

"Hakuba, I-"

"And one more thing. What did you think you would get out of this? A few laughs? Public humiliation? Did you think I was going to fall for this?" He ground his teeth slightly, his features darkening. "What did you expect me to say, Kuroba?"

"I expected you to say yes, you bastard!" Kuroba's scowl was oddly wet, and Hakuba did a doubletake at the tiny beads of salt and tears making themselves known on Kuroba's cheek. "You think I'm that bad?" His deep frown was wavering, bottom lip trembling the slightest bit, and that was about the same time Hakuba could feel his heart drop into his stomach. Did he really? Was that-? "I had no idea if you liked me or not," he continued, glaring at the blond despite looking like he was about to break down. It wasn't a look he was used to seeing on Kuroba, and not necessarily one he wanted to see again any time soon. "And then you went ahead and thought I was making fun of you! I might be a jerk, but I'm a jerk with morals, you know!" With a frustrated growl, he brought his hands up, fingers tensing but not doing anything. "I can't believe I love you, you asshole!"

"And how do you think I feel?" Hakuba shot back; shouting was doing no good, but it was something they were both admittedly good at, and neither of them were going to back down any time soon. "You mentally scar people for fun! I can't count the number of times you've dyed my hair, or- or put me in a blasted dress! You despise me, Kuroba! Was I really supposed to believe you were sincerely telling me what I've wanted to hear for months now?!"

They were both breathing heavily at that point, staring each other down as though they were going at each other's throats instead of roundabout confessing. Kuroba's eyes were still raw and defenseless, Hakuba's the same with an extra ounce of fear. There were one, two, three incredibly long moments before they both began to talk at the same time, pausing simultaneously as they heard the other begin.

"Kuroba, I-"

"Hakuba-"

They froze, neither saying anything in fear of interrupting the other, until Hakuba finally sighed slowly. "What you...what you said, about loving me..."

"Like, love, it's the same thing," Kuroba almost seemed to pounce on the words, even if they both knew that wasn't quite true. But the way he denied it, how he didn't immediately claim to miraculously love him, it was almost authentic. So like him. So...believable, and Hakuba choked out a quiet laugh. God, he was such an idiot. "What's so funny?" Kuroba was back on the defensive, eyes searching for any hint of what Hakuba was thinking.

The amount of adrenaline that drained from his body was astounding, as he took a few steps closer, watching Kuroba wobble slightly, debating whether or not to turn tail and run but evidently deciding to hold his ground. "It's funny," Hakuba almost smiled - almost, because now was neither the time nor the place - at him, "that we both hate each other so much that we love each other."

His steps had taken him close enough to hear the almost inaudible hitch in Kuroba's breath. "Bastard," he muttered under his breath, not quite looking at him again, but this time the lack of eye contact was accompanied by a light pink dusting his cheeks. "Months...really?"

"I've known you for two years, Kuroba," Hakuba pointed out, a pale blush crossing the bridge of his nose. "It doesn't take anybody that long to fall for you."

One side of Kuroba's mouth lilted upwards into a tiny half-smile. "Kaito," he muttered, before clearing his throat, trying (and failing) to put a serious expression back on his face and speaking again. "I'm pretty sure you can call me Kaito now."

"As long as you call me Saguru, then," Hakuba was hard-pressed to hide his own small, giddy grin. He reached for the hands that were still defensively held up in front of Kuroba- Kaito's face, taking one in each of his own and slowly lowering them. "Kaito, I-"

Pop!

Well, at least Kaito looked just as surprised as Saguru did when a mass of colorful glitter and confetti rained down on the two of them. There was a whoop from several meters up, and both boys looked upwards to see two heads poking out from one of the second story windows. "Congratulations, you two!" Aoko crowed happily, while Akako downright leered at the two of them. "Aoko heard you two yelling at each other from all the way across campus! I'm so happy for you!"

"Ahoko!" Kaito looked downright embarrassed, even more so than before, and Saguru took that moment to admire the way the tips of his ears lit up a bright red along with the rest of his face. He felt like he at least had the right to do that, at this point in time. "You're gonna pay for that!"

"Try your best, Bakaito!" She taunted back, squealing and running from the window as Kaito dropped one of Saguru's hands and dragged him towards the front of the school, ready to intercept his best friend before she could get away with mortifying him any more.

While the interruption wasn't the nicest, and he would have preferred just a little bit more time to sort out where, exactly, he was with Kaito, Saguru had to admit that what they had at that exact moment was much nicer than before. And maybe he was just the slightest bit smug about it, but Kaito's fingers intertwined with his and never let go once, even as they ran around the building to catch a rogue Nakamori.

OMAKE

"Kaito?"

"Huh?"

"While we're on the topic of confessions..."

"No, don't say it. Seriously."

"...will you finally confess that you're Kaitou KID?"

"Bastard, you already know the answer to that. No."

Saguru smiled slightly. Well, he had denied the confession, but he hadn't denied being KID. It was a start.

GA: Gaaaaaaay. I should have another HakuKai or two finished shortly (and by shortly I mean maybe in the next two months because my schedule is all kinds of messed up), so keep an eye out for those. Also, check out the poll on my dash! I want to know if you guys have any preferences for what genre you want to see me write for.

'Til next time!

~G. Annihilator