Kinomiya Takao wasn't really accustomed to walking around outside at winter when it was sub-zero temperature. He was usually back at home with his grandfather and his friends, beyblading and stuffing his face until he puked his guts out and then stuffing his face again.
However, today was an acceptation. He was oh-so-calmly (as always) sitting at home and beyblading as usual when Kyouju had suddenly announced that it was snowing outside.
Well, that was why Takao was outside in the utterly freezing temperature.
Nonetheless, excluding the evil, evil coldness that winter brought, it didn't change the fact that it was snowing. Furthermore, everyone seemed to be having fun. Thus, Takao was also jovial.
Takao let a small grin slip onto his features when Max fortuitously crashed into Rei, causing them to fall over. Rei groaned and moved to stand up when Daichi unexpectedly crashed into him as well, and so Rei just collapsed into the snow and gave up.
The dark-blue–haired adolescent looked around; skimming over all of the faces and his grin slipped slightly when he realised that Kai wasn't there. It wasn't surprising, really. Kai didn't particularly like socialising – even with his friends. Despite that, Takao thought he would be there.
"Hey, Takao," a soft yet vibrantly cheerful voice greeted happily.
Takao turned around and his grin formed again when he saw Hiromi standing there with her constant bright smile. "Hi, Hiromi," he replied merrily. "Where's Mao and the others?" he enquired.
Hiromi shrugged dismissively in response and gestured to where the other beybladers were now getting prepared for a snowball fight.
Takao laughed loudly. "Oh. Can't blame 'em, though! Snowball fights are fun!"
"Then why aren't you joining in?" the brunette enquired innocently and casually as she held her hands behind her back and leant forward to peer into Takao's sherry-brown coloured eyes.
Takao's grin softened and he laughed softly. "Nothin' gets past you, huh?"
"Nope," Hiromi replied, grinning sadistically. She poked his arm. "So come on, Takao-kun, spill it," she prompted.
Takao sighed slightly and shoved his thumbs into his pockets before turning to stare up at the greyish-blue tempestuous sky that was full of grey clouds. Despite the stormy atmosphere, the snow fell softly and serenely and it didn't really suit the seemingly unsettled sky.
"It's just…" Takao began quietly. "Well…"
Noticing Takao's hesitation, Hiromi spoke, "It's Kai, isn't it?"
The taller teenager blinked before smiling slightly and nodding. "Yeah," he replied.
Hiromi pursed her lips and stood up fully. "He's such a jerk," she said with a sigh. "He was supposed to be here today, and I can tell that the others are disappointed."
Takao blinked again before turning to his friends and noticing that despite appearing so jovial, they looked rather disenchanted. He frowned when he realised that that was because Kai wasn't there. Damn that guy!
"You look like you're most upset by his not being here," Hiromi said with a knowing grin. "Go on, Takao-kun. Go after him."
"E—eh?" Takao replied, blinking in surprise. "M—me?" he repeated and pointed to himself with befuddlement written across his features.
Hiromi giggled and poked him again. "Yeah, you, silly. He only seems to listen to you," she said with fake fury as she huffed and folded her arms. "So go and tell him to stop being such a bastard and make him come here or I'll have to beat him in a beyblade tournament and he'll be really embarrassed, so there!" she said with a grin.
"Um, Hiromi?" Max said from behind her.
The brunet turned and smiled at him. "Hey, Max-kun!" she greeted with a wave of her hand. "What can I help you with?"
"Takao already left before you finished speaking," the boy said, snickering.
Hiromi blinked before turning to where Takao was. "Eh?" She looked around and pouted when she saw he was running down the street already. "Well I never! How rude!"
Max snickered but hastily sobered up when Hiromi glared at him. "Uh, want to come and have a snowball fight?"
Hiromi's glare disappeared and she nodded fervently. "Sure!"
O—o—O—o—O
Now, if I were a sadistic, egoistic jackass, where would I be? Takao wondered as he dashed down random streets.
"Hey! Watch it!" some guy shouted when Takao rushed past him.
Takao turned around and waved in apology. "Sorry!" he called as he continued running.
He dashed through countless streets and past tonnes of houses and apartments – he even went to Kai's usual spots. The bastard doesn't deserve me, thought Takao as he rubbed his arms that were seriously going numb right about now.
Sick of scouring all of freakin' Tokyo (okay, he was exaggerating, but it sure as hell felt like he was searching all of Tokyo), he decided that he should give up soon and go home before he caught pneumonia or something equally as not awesome.
He looked around a few more times before grunting in annoyance. I'll look in one more place and then I'm going to go home, he decided, prevaricating between going home and searching further.
He pursed his lips. He didn't think Kai would ever go into such a busy place if he could avoid it, so that left… the park!
Takao spun on his heel and dashed down the streets. His lungs were burning and his legs felt like led due to all of his previous running. Not to mention how freakin' cold he was.
As he rubbed his arms again, Takao's chocolate-brown eyes shot up and he took in the details of his surroundings: The creepy huge black gates that reminded him of a castle that was always guarded by dragons, the enormous diverse trees that surrounded the park and that kept children at bay during winter but only encouraged them to climb them when they didn't look so… creepy.
And now, there was a thick layer of snow building up in the park. There were a few sets of footprints covering the snow and Takao smiled when he imagined children were playing her earlier, having fun and being prosperous as they squealed and had fun together as their parents hoped that they wouldn't get into trouble…
A loud squawk startled him from his fantasies of gleeful children and he smiled up at an eerie-looking crow.
"Hi, Mister Crow!" Takao greeted enthusiastically. "Sorry to trespass on your territory, but I'm lookin' for one of my jerks of a friend. Forgive me?" he pleaded with a cheery grin.
The crow just squawked again before flapping its charcoal-black wings and fluttering off on its own.
Takao smiled sadly. The crow reminded him of Kai: Strong, mysterious and independent. He knew that Kai had his reasons for being so solitary and occasionally snappish and cold towards people but… he didn't understand how much it hurt his friends when he was so introverted and spiteful to his 'friends'.
The blue-haired boy sighed and shook his head. It was not a time to be thinking of such upsetting things! He had a mission and he intended to complete it without fail because his friends were counting on him to bring Kai back!
Takao grinned brightly and slammed his fists together. "Right!" he cheered. "Let's do this!"
"Do what?" a brooding voice muttered darkly from behind him.
"Gyaaah!" Takao cried loudly and fell over. He winced and pouted as he looked up. "What was that for – oh! Kai!" he shouted genially with a huge goofy grin.
"No, it's the Boogie Man," retorted Kai sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, it's me, idiot. Why are you here?" he muttered questioningly.
Takao shouldn't have been hurt by Kai's words – he always insulted him, and he should have been used to it. But he wasn't.
Kai's right, Takao thought miserably. I am an idiot.
Instead of voicing his thoughts, the blue-haired boy grinned goofily and said, "Well, Mister I'm-So-Dang-Miserable"—Oh, man, was that lame!—"Everyone misses ya! Don't ask me why," Takao said, waving a dismissive hand. "'Cause I sure as heck don't miss ya." Ha. I am such a liar.
"If you don't want me there," he said. "Then why the hell are you looking for me?"
Damn, his glare always scares the… it always scares me. Gotta keep my thoughts twelve-plus or PG. Ehehehehe…
Takao sighed and closed his eyes before gaining courage (somehow) and meeting Kai's eyes defiantly. "Okay," he began, taking a deep breath. "You know what, Kai? You act like a complete jerk most of the time but I know that you're hurtin' inside. You wanna know how I know?" Takao scowled and placed a fist on his chest where his heart was. "Because… whenever you say insensitive things or if you just leave the room and ignore me… it always hurts. You are the only person who can always make me feel so worthless and upset, and it really annoys me to know that. Whenever you ignore us all, I can tell that everyone's upset by it and… and so am I. I won't deny it."
Not anymore. I won't deny it anymore because… because I mean it. I mean it, Kai.
Takao flushed slightly when Kai didn't seem affected by his words. He sighed and bowed his head in defeat. "Even if you hate me… please come. Everyone wants you there, and so do I. You don't even have to acknowledge me if you don't want to. But please… please come, because… everyone values you as a friend, and you mean a lot to them – to… me…" he finished, blushing at how corny it all sounded.
"That's so… clichéd," said Kai, making a weird choking sound.
Takao looked up, obviously embarrassed, but he still met Kai's gaze.
"Kai… you okay…?" Takao asked in confusion as the choking sound continued. "Are you dying, Kai?"
The choking sound got louder.
"Kai! Don't die! I'll get you to a hospital! Hang in there!" Takao shouted, panicking. He grabbed Kai's arm and prepared to [try] to haul him to the hospital.
"Idiot," Kai said, still choking. "I'm not dying. I'm laughing," he explained. Amusement danced in his fiery eyes as he watched Takao freak out.
Takao blinked in surprise and tilted his head with wide eyes, looking childish. "…You… you… laugh? You? Hiwatari Kai?" he squawked in disbelief.
Kai rolled his eyes. "Idiot," he mumbled again.
Takao grinned. "That's me. Don't forget it."
The taller boy smirked at him before stuffing his hands in his pockets as he usually did.
The blue-haired boy's grin slipped. Kai was ignoring him again. He felt his eyes burn and his throat clogged up. He swallowed painfully and sniffed.
Kai blinked when he heard an odd sniffling sound coming from next to him. He turned curiously to try and locate where the sound was coming from. He was surprised when he realised that the peculiar sound was coming from Takao.
"…Ta…kao?" he muttered in befuddlement.
The blue-haired teenager hastily swiped at his eyes. "A—ah! I got somethin' in my eye! I'm so accident-prone, huh?" he murmured, but he continued sniffing.
"Takao…" Kai mumbled as his brow furrowed. "Are you… crying…?" he said slowly, not having used the word much before.
"Wh—what'd give you a stupid idea like that?" replied the sniffling blue-haired boy.
Kai scowled and grabbed Takao's arm and yanked him to make him turn around. It had the desired affect and the slightly shorter boy stumbled towards him but continued staggering. On instinct, Kai grabbed Takao's shoulders to prevent the boy from crashing into him, which proved to be a mistake as a bench was directly behind him and with Takao's weight pushing against him, Kai fell back onto the bench with…
Takao was in his lap.
Well.
That was…
Unexpected.
Now, he could feel how much Takao was shaking. Kai blinked and looked down at the blue-haired boy in confusion and appraisal. The boy's eyes were slightly reddish and watery, his nose was bright pink, as were his cheeks and his lower lips was trembling. Aha, so he had been crying. And he was cold. Blatantly cold.
So he stated at much: "You're cold."
Takao blinked up at him in surprise and his already-pink cheeks just got redder. "…Huh?" he replied dumbly.
"You're cold," Kai repeated. When Takao just blinked again, he sighed in exasperation. "How long have you been out?"
"I was looking for you, you know!" the blue-haired boy justified himself, defensive. He sniffed again, but this time it was because the cold was getting to him. He reflexively leant into Kai's grasp as he was the closest source of warmth. "And only about… uh… two… hours…?" he said with a sheepish grin.
Kai rolled his eyes, irritated. "Idiot, why did you do that? You'd obviously get cold. Your jacket won't exactly help and definitely not your jeans…" he muttered.
"Look who's talking, Mister I'm-Too-Cool-To-Get-Sick!" Takao huffed with fake-rage and folded his arms with a pout.
"…That was lame even for you, Takao," Kai said, snickering.
Takao's angry mask cracked and he laughed. "I know, right?" he then paused. "Hey, wait! What do you mean 'even for me'?" he squeaked indignantly.
Kai smirked. "It's obvious, is it not?" he replied in a hushed tone as his face got closer to Takao's. "Idiot," he whispered as his lips skimmed over Takao's chastely and gently.
Takao's heart stopped, and his mind went blank.
…Blanker than usual, anyway.
Kai's smirk widened ever-so-slightly and he wrapped one arm around Takao's shoulders and the blue-haired boy instinctively put his gloved-hand over Kai's.
"Kai…? What… what are you doing…?" whispered Takao with bated breath.
"Again, Takao… is it not obvious?" Kai said with his now seemingly ever-present smirk. "I'm kissing you," he whispered lowly into his ear and his tongue lashed out to lick it.
Takao gasped in surprise as his face became a deeper shade of red.
"You're acting rather amusing, Takao," said Kai in a simpering tone. "Don't tell me… that you've never kissed before?"
Takao's face only became an even darker shade of ruby; his blush intensifying.
Kai's eyes brightened and the fire burned wildly. "Oh…"
"N—no! There is no 'oh'!" Takao wailed loudly.
"Oh, but I think there is, Ta-ka-o," Kai said, drawing out each syllable and causing the addressed boy to shudder. "You've… you haven't had your first kiss yet."
"I…!"
"Tell the truth, Takao…" Kai's lips trailed along Takao's jaw and the boy in his lap shivered again and scowled half-heartedly at the slightly taller adolescent.
"F—fine," stuttered Takao, trying not to pout. "I… haven't had my first kiss yet."
"There," Kai said, smirking. "Was that so hard?"
"Yes."
"Idiot."
And he kissed him again.
KaiTaka—KaiTaka—KaiTaka—KaiTaka—KaiTaka—KaiTaka
Hiwatari Kai, Kinomiya Takao and the characters in this Bakuten Shuuto Beyblade fic belong to Takao Aoki, not me.
This was inspired by:
http: // .com / art / Still-Cold-100688045
Without the spaces!
It was fun to write this. xD Takao is so cute~
I might to a sequel, but it depends on… stuff. :D
Reviews are appreciated but not required. But… I'd be happy to receive 'em. Hint hint. HINT.