Believer

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

A/N: Because even Aya supports this one. XDDD Seriously, go watch Episode 18. SPOILER! When Kengo is talking about his date with some other girl, Aya asks Akira something along the lines of, "What're you going to do?! If you don't do something, she'll take him away from you!" This was also written because somehow, I can't come up with ShiroAki and this popped up instead, and I just had to write something. I remember in the anime that they mention that Kengo tried to save Akira when they were little and ended up getting beat up himself, but I don't remember if that's how they met. The manga doesn't say how they meet, but I guess that's what creative license is for.

At first, the smexy bits were Kengo's fantasy. Now I think it works better as an ongoing relationship thing. :D Then again, originally, I wasn't going to post this up, but here it is. XDD Enjoy! Con crit is welcomed! Requests and challenges are as well.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Kengo already knows how to believe; he's known how to for a very long time. He doesn't believe in God, or saints, but he believes in Akira. He admires him, idolizes him, and now, he's infatuated with him.

There's a strength to Akira, Akira who can do anything he sets his mind to. He can act, he can sing, he can play the guitar and beat yakuza up, and he can be listed as the top scorer of the practice university entrance exams. Akira who is a Shin, Akira who can defeat Kokuchi, Akira who will save the world. And Kengo believes and gives himself away, because it is natural for him.

He remembers the first words Akira ever said to him. He was seven and being beaten up by alley kids when a boy charged in and warded them off, escaping with nothing but a purple bruise on his cheek. Kengo had curled up against the wall, crying in fright.

"Hey, they're gone. Hey! Why're you crying?" Akira had asked him, childish voice high and curious. He lifted a small hand and wiped away some of the tears that were coursing down Kengo's cheek. "I already beat 'em up and they all ran away, so why're you crying?"

And he remembers learning afterward: Nikaido Akira, six years old, birthday December 11, and big grey-green eyes peering at him cutely over the rim of a glass full of milk, sharing a cookie with him, auburn hair curling about round cheeks. Akira was small as a child, tiny, with small hands that when clenched in a fist, were engulfed by Kengo's larger ones. And weeks later, Kengo knew they would be friends, and he thought to himself, I'll protect him.

Now he's older, and Akira still saves him—but that's why Kengo has to be strong, be stronger. Akira is the reason why he's been training himself. He watches Akira fight, practices himself with the neighboring karate instructor who teaches him for free, and then when the opportunity comes, he fights himself and tries to protect Akira the best he can, even if Akira doesn't need the protecting. He does it because Akira shouldn't have to fight all the time; he doesn't do anything wrong. Kengo wants Akira to depend on him, wants Akira to smile at him—he wants Akira to notice him and admire him the same way that he admires Akira.

It's not just his strength. Akira has a strange duality about him. He is a fighter, still better than Kengo even without official training, but his body type is different. He doesn't bulk up in chest muscles or a six pack the way Kengo does when he gets stronger, his body is lean and deceptive, smooth lines and planes of skin until the light hits his body just right, displaying shadows of strength. His waist is trim, his hair long, and his eyes and hair are a foreign shade not commonly seen in any Asian country, like Japan. As a "delinquent", Akira isn't ugly and he doesn't do drugs, and he doesn't carry a switchblade in his pocket. He shows up on test days, and always turns his homework into Okubo-sensei's box on skipping days, and he is a cross between handsome and cute instead of handsome and distinguished.

But Kengo likes that auburn hair, those big grey-green eyes, loves the way that black collar fits on Akira's neck, wants to kiss Akira's calloused palm and wants to run his hands all over that body—

Akira bucks into him, clasping a hand over his mouth as his cheeks flush pink and his eyebrows knit together as Kengo's hand snakes into his boxers.

"I want to hear you," Kengo whispers into his ear, biting it gently and prying Akira's hand away just in time to catch the breathless moan that seems to fill the room. He moves his hand, jerking it, and Akira pushes into him, and Kengo loves how his hair falls across his face like that.

"A-Ahn…!"

That body. The body that Akira shares with Shirogane.

And it isn't just Shirogane. It's like everybody's interested, his sister, Aya's Tsukikage-sempai, Momiji who wanted to paint Akira in his "true essence", and the captains of the tennis and wrestling club. But Shirogane is the one who displays it the most, and Kengo has always felt paranoid about how one day Shirogane might beat him to it and take advantage of his unique position in Akira's life.

Akira himself is a little naïve in the sex department, and he doesn't object until "hitting-on" becomes full on predatory movement or attempted groping, unless the other party's interest is clearly obvious.

"Akira?"

"What is it Ken—Kengo! What are you doing?!"

Kengo bends Akira's back over the school desk, taking the brief opening to grab Akira's wrists securely and pin him.

"Akira…"

And he swoops down and swallows Akira's gasp of surprise as he kisses the life out of his best friend, tongues tangling and mouths moving in what seems to be slow motion, and his lips are soft and warm and ohgodohgodohgodit'shotandhe'sburning—

He wants to tell them to get in the flippin' line because he was there first and he deserves it because he and Akira have been friends for years, and even though Akira treats him roughly the times when Akira does something kind for him are the times where Kengo's belief is renewed, because Akira has just always been there no matter what, even when he's annoyed. Akira cares, he just doesn't show it.

And Kengo wants him.

But stupid Shirogane is in the way, and so is everybody else, and there's another reason to get stronger because he'll fight for it, his belief, and he'll show him and Akira will see that he belongs to Kengo just as much as Kengo belongs to Akira.

One day, he'll beat them all.

One day, Akira will be his.