Hmm, so. I've been craving this couple for a long time, for some reason, even though Kanone/Eyes is still my One True Pairing and freakishly close to being canon (at least to me) ; but this was fun, to imagine as well as to write. (And the original product was about twice as long as this, but I'm pretty sure the cut off scenes are going to morph into another fic so it's all fine :D)
Everyone loves to abuse Kousuke anyway.
Disclaimer : Nope, still not mine, consider yourself lucky. Mizuno Eita and Shirodaira Kyou pwn my soul.
Warnings : Bit of violence as always with Blade Children (but really not much graphic), cursing as always with Kousuke, yaoi/shounen ai as always with me. But not many spoilers for once, and maybe a little more compliant with Spiral Alive canon.
And I know I ignored pretty much all the other characters, but Ryouko and Eyes, especially, would have been a little problematic. They were both adressed in drafts I ended up cutting off, since they were way too dramatic and serious for this, so maybe another time.
Enjoy ! (I hope)
Kanone is violent.
Okay, so yeah, they all are. All of them, Ryouko even though she never does it on purpose and hates herself afterwards, Rio whose eyes shine with glee every single time, Rutherford who makes his hands play and play and play his damned piano in order to refrain from randomly dismembering animals or ripping out their guts, Kousuke himself, who likes adding an artistic trait to his murders and licks the blood off his knives when he's done, and all the other ones Kousuke has ever encountered and probably all the ones he hasn't, too. It runs in the blood, quite literally. It really shouldn't be surprising at all.
But Kanone, he's not only violent when in danger. He is when the situation absolutely doesn't call for it at all.
Like when they train, for example.
They usually practice knife-throwing in Kanone's garden ; it's huge and surrounded by trees, and there's already a number of wooden targets — who look as though they've been used for this for a long time — hanging from trees, and countless animals in the grove for more advanced training.
"No, no, hold it this way," Kanone says agitatedly.
He seems a bit stressed today. Not quite nervous, but hasty, prompt to snapping. He's thrown over half a dozen knives already, much more than he usually does because he really doesn't need such basic training anymore, but he doesn't seem to get enough of it. The still targets can't provide nearly enough action and adrenaline, though, can't relieve him of whatever it is that's bothering him, and if anything his stress is only getting worse.
Kousuke has never seen him like this before, but he's still got to know the boy well enough already to know you should never let Kanone snap ; so he keeps his mouth shut and hands him the knife.
Kanone catches his wrist in one hand, quick, brutal and rough, and takes his fingers with the other, closes them around the handle and squeezes them hard. Looks up and stares deep in Kousuke's eyes, his own pupils slit and blazing.
Kousuke flushes.
"This way," Kanone repeats, intent and fierce.
Kousuke gulps and nods twice, quickly.
Then Kanone throws the knife himself and almost splits the target in two. Kousuke shudders and doesn't dare look up at him.
It's only sometimes, thankfully, only when Kousuke has pushed him too far, or has unbelievably surprised him. From what he understands, it probably has to do with Kanone's upbringing, because the boy has been raised, conditioned, into a way of life basically revolving around violence ; fighting and killing are more than central to him, they're natural.
Reflexes.
To Kousuke it sounds more like Kanone's life is more surviving-no-matter-what than really living, but then again it's probably the safest way to live for the Blade Children.
Still, he really wouldn't want to meet Kanone's mom, and he's extra careful when walking near a sleeping Kanone.
He walked too close, once. Kanone was having a nap on the couch, cradling one of the stray cats to his chest and looking to all the world like a perfect picture of childish innocence. Kousuke was a bit surprised and amused and, without thinking, walked just past him, just a bit too close, just a bit too loudly.
Kanone sat up at cannonball speed, eyes wide open and the killer glint inside, jumped on his feet and he had Kousuke pinned to the floor in a second, his hands around his throat and squeezing and Kousuke was too fucking scared to even scream.
Kanone's eyes, catslit murderous and shining shining shining gold, were all he could see and his breath, ragged and hot on Kousuke's face all he could hear and his hands tightening all he could feel — and all he could think about was shit shit shit he's going to —
Then Kanone froze, blinked, and let go of him with an easy laugh ; Kousuke coughed and breathed in deep, choking on air, livid and shaking.
Kanone picked up the upset cat and calmed it down with a few soothing whispers, and only told Kousuke "You should be more careful."
Then he stood up, again chuckling lightly, but Kousuke still hadn't quite found his breath.
Kousuke still can't think back about that stupid incident without feeling the heat.
Kanone's fucking scary but for some reason it's not the fear Kousuke remembers best ; it's the heat, the warmth of Kanone's body, pressed against him, pushing him down —
Kanone's hand, locked around his throat and squeezing and his thumbs digging in his skin, pushing and strangling and...
It should creep him out, he knows, but he also knows all Blade Children have issues. It was just a fight, after all, even if an unarguably lost one, and he's always loved fights and their rushes of adrenaline and their quickening of heartbeats. Fighting is all about proximity anyway. He's a fight-lover, not the same thing as a masochist.
Then again, of course, there's always the actual fight training sessions, which he also enjoys quite a lot.
"Kick !" Kanone suddenly shouts. Kousuke does, and is blocked instantly. Kanone grabs his ankle and twists it, pushing him to the floor. "Too late," he whispers, Cheshire cat's grin and eyes very close to Kousuke's face.
Kousuke is burning and panting, and he suddenly feels dreadfully like a small bird face-to-face with a hungry feline. He wonders if Kanone is going to eat him, and why this thought doesn't scare him as much as it should.
Kanone's sudden laugh as he frees him doesn't put him much more at ease. "Way too slow," he says, "do it again."
Kousuke gulps but obeys. It's not like he has much choice.
He spends most of that training session on the floor.
And doesn't mind at all.
He tells himself it's the adrenaline rushes, the sweat, the stretched stiff muscles, the blood pounding to his temples, his lungs burning and his heartbeat a too-fast throbbing pain that he likes. After they've sparred until exhaustion, he always gets this kind of tired yet happy, sore yet satisfied dizziness, like he's floating among clouds, and it's actually nice to be so fucking burned-out he can't even really think properly anymore.
He knows some girls would tell him that's pretty masochistic, but, well.
He's gotten used to the flushes, gasps and short breath from the exertion, having a long, cold shower once a day (at least), and occasionally getting very, very close to Kanone's body. 'Ts not like he does it on purpose, he'd tell the girls.
Not those times, anyway.
Lately he's been making his mentor snap from time to time, and it's getting more often. Kanone gets harsh and brutal then and Kousuke regularly finds himself crushed to the ground by a boy with tousled hair and murderous golden eyes. And that's always total accidents, of course, but since the last time it happened, he's been thinking weird and he can't stop the strange ideas and images flashing through his mind.
Kanone is good-looking when he's composed and smiling, but when he's angry and flushed with bloodlust, Kousuke thinks he's downright beautiful.
And he doesn't want to know what the girls would tell him about that.
All that doesn't mean that Kousuke isn't absolutely flabbergasted or that he has any idea of what's happening the day Kanone pins him to the ground but kisses him hard instead of trying to kill him.
"Guh ?" he says when Kanone stops molesting his mouth, in a stunning display of intelligence.
Kanone rolls his eyes, still glinting and locks of wild sweaty hair falling into them.
"Don't even try to tell me you haven't been thinking about it for weeks," he mumbles, still short on breath, and kisses Kousuke again.
Truth is Kousuke hasn't, not really, and this was kind of his first kiss and he's kind of very very nervous now but Kanone kind of doesn't seem to care, so Kousuke figures he might as well go along with the madness and kisses Kanone back. Kind of.
It's not like he's not enjoying this a hell of a lot, too.