Life Line
Written by: RinoaDestiny
King of Fighters, Kyo Kusanagi, and Iori Yagami belong to SNK
Comments: For Nano, for the guilty pleasure of BL. Also written for Pride Month 2019 – my first fic ever for this month.
"Kusanagi, what the hell are we doing?"
"You started it."
"I did?"
"You're the one that kissed me, remember?" Kyo's tone was wry and very amused. It weirded Iori out, seeing his rival like this. Had he initiated? He couldn't seem to remember. Even the fact that Kyo Kusanagi, of all people, wasn't punching him out and was amused – what? – made him wonder if tonight was cursed or strange or both. By all means, he should be laid out cold with Kyo stomping away. What he shouldn't be was lying on the ground with Kyo's breath hot by his ear and the other's weight on top of him.
He'd seen weird things. This was weirder.
"Get off me, Kusanagi." Since Kyo wasn't pinning him down – they both had their clothes intact – he pushed him off and sat up, readjusting his collar. At times like this, he needed a smoke. There were two cigarettes still in the box in his pants pocket (fortunately not crushed) and he lit one up like it was his life line. Perhaps it was. He needed to think.
"Man, for someone who pounced on me, you scare easy, Yagami."
He had meant to clobber Kyo, not…what Kyo said he did. He still couldn't believe he did that. He took a long drag to clear his mind but this evening's incident was muddled and even shaking his head didn't help. Kyo watched him, his smile easy and that unsettled Iori.
He didn't like being unsettled.
"Shouldn't you be gone by now? Why are you still here?"
"I thought you'd like this. You're always chasing me, after all."
Chasing Kyo was one thing. Meaning to punch Kyo – to hurt him – and doing that instead wasn't in the plan. Had never been in the plan, so how?
"I know you're obsessed, man, but…"
"That was an accident."
"Really? You don't just accidentally kiss someone, Yagami."
It was a good thing the sun had set, because Iori flushed red and if Kyo saw that... He took another drag, inhaled in the smoke – it burned down his throat – and exhaled, using that as an excuse to get some air. If Kyo had kissed him in return, then…
He coughed.
"You know, those things aren't good for you."
"I'm gonna die anyway, so why do you care?" He took them back to familiar ground, away from this vulnerability he disliked. Away from whatever the hell he did, whatever lurked in his mind. He wanted to kill Kyo. He wanted to eliminate him. That was what he wanted, right?
Right?
The fact he even had to think this unnerved him. Was he second-guessing himself now?
"Yagami, admit it. This isn't about killing me."
As if Kyo read his mind. Or read him. Was he wearing his emotions openly on his face? Was he that transparent? Why was Kyo acting so strange? Why wasn't he laying half-dead in the dirt and grass, bruised and bleeding?
"Kusanagi –"
"Your hand's shaking."
Son-of-a-bitch! He crushed the cigarette without meaning to, cursed aloud, and flung the useless stub aside. Kyo stood up, walked over to where the stub was, and ground it out. Iori wanted to leave – he understood none of this (not about himself and definitely not about Kyo) – but Kyo returned, sitting beside him again as if this was just an ordinary evening. As if they had just finished trouncing each other and were simply resting, licking their respective wounds.
That was not what this was about, though.
He eyed Kyo warily, even though he'd been the one to initiate. Because that hadn't been his intent and Kyo had…Kyo hadn't…
Iori knew his brain was about to break. Maybe he should leave before…
"If I had followed through, would you have pushed me away?"
"What?"
The brunet looked at him, serious and calm. "Would you have –"
"That's not…what are you…"
"You're turning red, Yagami."
With an inward curse thrown at himself and two at Kyo for pursuing this extremely uncomfortable and dangerous line of thought (for him), Iori decided the best response was none at all. He couldn't trust himself to say something that Kyo would either misconstrue or worst case scenario, reveal something about himself that even he didn't know.
Silence was usually the best method.
Usually.
He was dealing with Kyo Kusanagi, after all.
"As I said, that's no accident. You may not have wanted that to happen, but it did. If I had responded in return, what would you have done?"
If he had…
"Kusanagi, you're a..." No. Stop right there. He wasn't going to take it there, because if he did…
"Virgin? Come on, Yagami. You think they don't learn?"
"But you're…your girlfriend…you don't…"
"What about you, then? Didn't you have girlfriends as well? What makes me different?"
Because Kyo was…Kyo was Kyo and that…. Iori reached for his last cigarette, desperately needing to dwell on something else. He also needed to stand up, get away from Kyo – funny that, except it wasn't – and tell himself to calm down. Things were going askew, slanting sideways and turning this conundrum this way and that only showed more angles, more layers, more difficulties. None of which he could slash aside. None of which he could fight the usual way.
His head hurt.
He left Kyo sitting there as he went a small distance away, increasing his nicotine intake per draw. He needed it. Badly. His hands were shaking, giving his internal turmoil away and he fought to school himself, to bring himself back under control. Very few people were able to shake him but Kyo was a constant. Always. Around Kyo, he always ran the risk of losing himself.
That was a dangerous thing. Obsession did have its downsides.
He didn't like the question Kyo posed. It revealed too much and as for himself…
Kyo was a virgin, true, but so was he in that sense. Yes, he'd been around women, had slept with them as well, so he wasn't a virgin anymore. But when it came to other men, that was a different story. He wasn't drawn to other men. But Kyo was…Kyo was always there in his life, from childhood as just a name to his teen years when he first ran across him to now when they were both grown men. Kyo was different and Kyo did matter.
Which was why this troubled him. A lot.
So if Kyo did respond, like kiss him back or advance further – why would he? – what would he have done? Two inexperienced men going at it in the dark like idiots, more than likely to hurt themselves and accomplish nothing – what would that fulfill? They'd have to fight each other again and again at the tournaments anyway, so…
But if Kyo had kissed him and he responded in kind…. Things would change. Drastically. It was impossible to go back once things got physical. He knew this. They wouldn't be able to hate each other again, if they still did. He did hate Kyo, didn't he?
He didn't know the answer. Didn't see it anymore.
It frightened him. It frightened him to even acknowledge it.
He had meant to punch Kyo. To drag him down into the dirt. To hurt him. To win. But instead, he'd kissed him and Kyo had…Kyo hadn't struck him back, hadn't pushed him away, cursing his name. Somehow, they'd ended up together on the open earth beneath the night sky and if Kyo had continued, had taken it further…
He wouldn't have been able to refuse. Wouldn't have.
That, in part, was why Iori was afraid.
It was a part of himself he never knew. Never would have thought possible and yet…
His cigarette had burned out, the last red sparks flickering in the dark. He held onto it, as if it was the only object tethering him to familiar ground. Everything was shifting, uneven beneath his feet, and if he let go, he'd be lost.
He wouldn't be able to find his way back.
The last red sparks died, leaving him in darkness. Then, he saw a faint thin light heading his way. As the light approached, growing brighter, Iori glimpsed Kyo behind it. There was a lighter in his hand – Kyo didn't smoke – and with this minimal torch, the other man found his way to him. Stood there before him, illuminating both of them with this insignificant flame.
"Yagami, what are you afraid of?"
As though Kyo knew him all along. Perhaps he did.
He was afraid of a lot of things. Things he never voiced aloud, because they'd give him away.
"Kyo…"
That was all he said. It was enough.
"You have nothing to be afraid about, Yagami." His rival, saying this in a tone he'd never heard before. Wouldn't have known unless he heard it for himself, which he just did. Then, before he could blink, before he could grasp what happened, Kyo leaned forward and kissed him.
He dropped his cigarette. Felt it fall from his nerveless hand.
He gasped. Was stunned.
"Kyo," he said, pulling back, feeling as though his world was submerged. As though he was drowning. "Kyo…"
That was all he could say. All he could manage.
Kyo stepped forward, drawing him in – to their shared light, to him – and took his arm, pulled him closer. "Yagami," the other said and his name was no longer a curse, no longer something scorned and hated. Iori found himself enveloped, embraced and his whole world changed.
He had let go. Was in the unfamiliar, which was scary.
But he had a life line. Kyo was here. With him.
He had let go, and perhaps, he was going to be fine.