a/n: YES, I KNOW. I should be working on Sailor Sunrise and Hetalia in Wonderland. I swear I'm not giving up on them. I will get them done.
I've been considering taking down No More Tomatoes, Para Bailar a la Bamba, and Oktoberfest. To me, they're…not my best work, and it's kind of embarrassing to me to have anything less than my best up here. What do you guys think?
Just to clarify: No, Kiku and Arthur aren't dating here. Yet. They may be at some later point in this universe (no, I'm not continuing this), but they are not currently dating. They're just good friends.
Um…I guess this is for everyone who had finals these past weeks. I hope you all did well and didn't kill yourselves studying. Now go out and have fun! The weather's lovely (or, well, it should be) and summertime is calling you!
Taking a deep breath, Arthur knocked gently on the door. "Kiku?" he called. "Please answer the door. Yao says you haven't been eating and you're really thin enough as it is."
No reply.
Arthur knocked again, a little more insistently this time. "Kiku, please talk to me. Shutting yourself up in your room isn't going to help, whatever the problem is."
No reply.
Arthur sighed. "Kiku, I'm begging you. Come out of your room. Please. You're my best friend and—and I'm worried about you."
The door opened a crack. "Kirkland-kun?" Kiku's voice was quiet, as it usually was, but there was a worn-out edge to it that Arthur didn't like.
Arthur smiled nervously, even though Kiku probably couldn't see him. "Yeah, it's me. Can I come in?"
The door opened further, revealing the boy behind it.
Kiku was usually small and lightweight, but now he looked like a shadow of his former self—all too-sharp elbows and too-loose yukata. His eyes were dark with exhaustion and the shadows under them looked like they had been painted on, they were so deep. "Good afternoon, Kirkland-kun." He bowed in greeting. "Please come in. Make yourself comfortable."
Arthur entered the room, glancing around. There were books and papers everywhere and a laptop glowed from the low table in the center of the floor. "Been studying hard?" he asked, taking a seat on one of the cushions around the table.
Kiku nodded, sitting down across from him. "Yes. I must work as hard as I can if I wish to get acceptable grades in all of my classes. Have you been working hard?"
Arthur shrugged. "Not really. I've been studying, yeah, but not like this." He made a vague gesture intended to encompass the room and its evidence of study. "Kiku, I really am worried about you. You don't look well. I think you're working yourself too hard—when did you last eat? Or sleep, for that matter?"
"I had a bowl of miso soup this morning," Kiku defended himself. "And I slept at least four hours last night."
Arthur gave his friend a Look that said, very clearly, 'Really? Are you pulling my leg?'
Kiku glanced down. "All right, so I've been a little absorbed in my work. But…I can't afford not to get good grades. My family was…less than pleased the last time I did poorly in school."
"Kiku, I don't think you need to worry about your grades. You're at the top of the f—the class!" Arthur ran his hand through his hair, trying to calm himself down. "Please, take care of yourself. You won't exactly do well in school if you get sick, will you?"
Kiku smiled weakly. "I suppose not. I thank you for your concern, Kirkland-kun, but I assure you, it is unnecessary. I will be fine."
"Fine my a—my foot," Arthur grumbled. "Come on. You're taking a break for the day—Yao said so. I'll take you to the park, if you'd like—we can get some ice cream."
"I'd…I'd like that," Kiku said.
Arthur got to his feet and offered a hand to his friend. "Well, come on, then."
Taking the offered hand, Kiku got to his feet. "Thank you, Kirkland-kun."
"It's no problem," Arthur assured him. "Now, let's go. It's a beautiful day out there."